Fresh off an Eastern Conference Finals run with the Toronto Raptors, Cory Joseph will headline the Canadian men’s basketball team’s preliminary roster for this summer’s Olympic qualifying tournament.
Joining Joseph from an NBA perspective will be Tyler Ennis of the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons veteran Joel Anthony.
As such, the bigger story around Canada’s roster may be who isn’t in attendance.
Canadian NBA stars Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Olynyk weren’t included as part of the initial roster with fellow Canadian NBA players Tristan Thompson, Nik Stauskas, Andrew Nicholson, Dwight Powell and Robert Sacre also absent.
Wiggins said in a statement he issued from his agent that he’ll be taking the summer off, so he won’t be participating with the national team at all.
Other notable omissions include Anthony Bennett, who spent last season split between the Raptors and Toronto’s D-League affiliate Raptors 905 before being waived, and Kentucky guard Jamal Murray, who emerged as a star for Canada at the Pan Am Games last year and is projected to go within the top-10 of the upcoming NBA Draft.
Joseph, Ennis and Detroit Pistons veteran Joel Anthony are the only NBA players on the roster.
Of the 19 players invited only four of them were on last summer’s FIBA Americas Championship team – Joseph, Melvin Ejim, Brady Heslip and Philip Scrubb.
The full preliminary roster is as follows:
Canadian Men’s National Basketball Team Preliminary Roster
| NAME | POSITION | HEIGHT | HOMETOWN | TEAM/SCHOOL |
| Shai Alexander | G | 6’4 | Hamilton, ON | Hamilton Heights Christian Academy |
| Joel Anthony | F | 6’9 | Montreal, QC | Detroit Pistons |
| RJ Barrett | G | 6’7 | Mississauga, ON | Montverde Academy |
| Sim Bhullar | F | 7’5 | Toronto, ON | Raptors 905 |
| Dillon Brooks | F | 6’7 | Mississauga, ON | Oregon Ducks |
| Chris Boucher | F | 6’10 | Montreal, ON | Oregon Ducks |
| Jason Calliste | G | 6’2 | Toronto, ON | Barons Kvartals Riga |
| Melvin Ejim | F | 6’6 | Toronto, ON | Reyer Venezia |
| Tyler Ennis | G | 6’2 | Brampton, ON | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Brady Heslip | G | 6’2 | Burlington, ON | Pallacanestro Cantu |
| Tyson Hinz | F | 6’7 | Ottawa, ON | Landstede Basketball |
| Cory Joseph | G | 6’3 | Pickering, ON | Toronto Raptors |
| Corey Johnson | G | 6’5 | Ottawa, ON | Harvard University |
| Owen Klassen | F | 6’10 | Kingston, ON | Phoenix Hagen |
| Levon Kendall | F | 6’10 | Vancouver, BC | Movistar Estudiantes |
| Naz Mirtou-Long | G | 6’4 | Mississauga, ON | Iowa St. Cyclones |
| Dyshawn Pierre | G | 6’6 | Whitby, ON | Dayton Flyers |
| Philip Scrubb | G | 6’3 | Ottawa, ON | Fraport Skyliners |
| Thomas Scrubb | G | 6’6 | Ottawa, ON | Giessen 46ers |
Despite the obvious dearth of the program’s top talent, there’s still hope that the big guns will show up.
“Given the time of year, player availability is always changing. We’re continuing to talk to teams and players may become available as the summer progresses,” Canada Basketball men’s national team general manager Steve Nash said in a statement. “Playing for your country is an honour, we have a deep pool of talent who are committed to playing for Canada and we’re ready to get to work.”
This is an important point to take note of. A player like Thompson is still trying to win an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers right now so he has his hands tied, and Murray is busy going to workouts, doing interviews and getting himself ready for the draft.
As for the other NBA players, it’s entirely possible they’re simply resting before joining the team or Canada Basketball hasn’t secured their insurance yet, meaning they couldn’t participate even if they wanted to.
The roster as it currently stands will convene in Toronto at Air Canada Centre for a six-day training camp between June 10-15. Afterwards, the team will head to Italy to play in a five-game exhibition tournament starting June 17 that will see it square off against Croatia, China and Puerto Rico.
The Olympic qualifying tournament will take place starting July 5. Three spots are up for grabs in three separate tournaments with the winner earning an Olympic berth. Canada will play in the Manila tournament. Slotted into Group A, Canada will see Turkey and Senegal in the first round. France, New Zealand and the host Philippines make up Group B.
The two other tournaments will be hosted in Belgrade and Turin with Serbia, Angola, Puerto Rico, Japan, Czech Republic, Latvia, Greece, Mexico, Iran, Tunisia, Croatia and Italy all vying a shot at Rio 2016.
Canada was forced to play in this Olympic qualifying tournament after infamously falling to Venezuela 79-78 in the 2015 FIBA Americas semifinal. Had it won that game, the team would’ve automatically earned an Olympic berth.
Canada ended up settling for third, defeating Mexico 87-86 on a Joseph buzzer-beater to win bronze.
