The Canadian national team announced a preliminary roster for FIBA action this summer; Utah Jazz forward Trey Lyles was among the notable absentees.
More than most of the teams around the NBA, the Utah Jazz roster is stocked with players who represent their country in international competition. Gordon Hayward, Rodney Hood, Rudy Gobert, Raul Neto, Tibor Pleiss, Dante Exum and Joe Ingles could all participate on some level with their respective national programs this summer.
Another player who many expected to do the same is the Canadian-born Trey Lyles.
Coming off a successful rookie season in which he averaged 8.6 points, nearly four rebounds and shot 37 percent from three-point range during the year’s final 30 games, Lyles seemed like a natural fit for a Canadian basketball program that hasn’t been in the Olympics since 2000.
However, Lyles was absent from Team Canada’s initial 19-man roster for its training camp this weekend.
Other notable players left off the team’s initial roster include Andrew Wiggins, Tristan Thompson, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, Robert Sacre, Nik Stauskas, Andrew Nicholson, Anthony Bennett and draft prospects Jamal Murray and Kyle Wiltjer.
Wiggins and Stauskas have both stated that they’re sitting out this summer’s international competition, while Olynyk is recovering from shoulder surgery and Thompson is playing in the NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lyles’ absence is a curious one given the lack of NBA-level talents expected to be with the squad when it attempts to secure an Olympic berth at qualifiers next month.
Having said that, Canadian men’s senior national team GM Steve Nash has said that he’ll continue to work on getting more players in for the qualifying tournament–
"“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. Playing for your country is an honor, we have a deep pool of talent who are committed to playing for Canada and we’re ready to get to work.”"
With the Canadians facing an uphill battle to secure a ticket to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Lyles would definitely be a welcome addition to their roster.