Team USA hasn't even completed its utter domination of the competition at the 2012 London Olympics yet, but people are already discussing what could come next on the Olympic basketball scene after this year's gold medals are handed out.
In a Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Basketball-Reference's Tom Paine went to work trying to compile a possible roster for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As one would expect, Paine calls Bulls point guard Derrick Rose a "somewhat likely" option for the roster, which looks unsurprisingly stacked.
In his article, Paine lists seven players that are considered even more likely than Rose to make the roster: Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving. With two point guards, Paul and Irving, already being listed there, it's understandable to see Rose being considered a slightly-less-likely proposition.
A year ago, Rose presumably would've been considered a lock for the 2016 Olympic roster giving his emergence in the NBA, but his star has admittedly dimmed a little after concluding an injury-plagued season with a torn ACL. With Paul maintaining his status as the league's best point guard and Irving emerging as the future at the position, Rose will need to show that he's healthy before getting serious consideration for Team USA in future major competitions.