If you haven't already, go check out my original post, pre 41-man roster, here: https://fanspo.com/nba/grids/pdjGD2yvtm0q9v
Now, I'm well aware that it's a 12-man roster, not 15. I'll probably end up cutting Brown, Bam and one of CP3 and Harden. But not sure which one yet so I'll shelve that for later when I start being more active on Fanspo (I haven't posted in 5 months or so).
Decisions behind each position:
I've explained a lot of these in Pt 1, but a few changes. First, Joel Hans Embiid decided to switch to Team USA, so he became a lock as both me and Curry4MVPS think he was kinda promised a spot on the roster which is why he switched. With this, I think I got 10 players locked (for me, I'm considering the following criteria: 1) Has the player in question won a ring? If no, more likely (I want to give them free trophies). 2) How old is the player? Could they play in 2028? If they could, it's less likely, give it to the old guys who won't have another chance (so this roster is basically just 27 and older players). 3) Have they played on Team USA before. If they haven't, more likely, so Wardell Stephen Curry II is a really good pick here because he hasn't played in the FIBA WC or the Olympics). Second, neither Klay Alexander Thompson nor Draymond Jamal Green were selected to the preliminary 41-man roster, so I couldn't take them however much Stephen Douglas Kerr and all Golden State Warriors fans want them.
The 10 locked-in players are:
Wardell Stephen Curry II.
Devin Armani Booker.
LeBron Raymone James Sr.
Kevin Wayne Durant.
Joel Hans Embiid.
Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr.
Paul Clifton Anthony George.
Kawhi Anthony Leonard.
Anthony Marshon Davis.
Jimmy Butler III.
There's no explanation really needed for these locks. They're the best players in the NBA and fulfil some kind of combination of the 3 criteria. The one question you guys could have is why no Tatum? The answer is that he's 25 and Jaylen Brown is 27. So Tatum could just play in LA 2028. I've heard a lot of Mikal, Ant, Hali shouts but they all got to play in the FIBA WC, plus it's not like they're old. Mikal is 27 and Ant and Hali could probably play in the next 2 Olympics.
Thus, the 2 remaining spots will go to 2 of Christopher Emmanuel Paul, James Edward Harden Jr., or Donovan Mitchell Jr.