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Team USA: John Wall, Paul Millsap, and Bradley Beal cut

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John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Paul Millsap are off Team USA.

By Ali AlShowaikh
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Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Team USA coaching staff started taking the first steps in terms of trimming the roster for the international event that is going to be held in Spain next month. Unfortunately, John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Paul Millsap were cut from the team.

Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news first:

With Paul George also out of the roster due to an leg injury, there are 15 players remaining, and 12 spots.

Players Left

  1. DeMarcus Cousins
  2. Stephen Curry
  3. Anthony Davis
  4. DeMar DeRozan
  5. Andre Drummond
  6. Kevin Durant
  7. James Harden
  8. Kenneth Faried
  9. Gordon Hayward
  10. Kyle Korver
  11. Kyrie Irving
  12. Derrick Rose
  13. Chandler Parsons
  14. Klay Thompson
  15. Damian Lillard

Cutting Wall from the roster was surprising, especially given that Russell Westbrook bowed out already. Wall is one of the best point guards in the NBA 2013 league, and he lifted his team to the Eastern Semi finals, and averaged 19.3 points, 8.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in the regular season. Also, no one can ignore the improvements he made in his playing style, especially in his shooting abilities.

Wall and Wizards guard Bradley Beal are both young and will still have many opportunities to , join the team in the future. However, Millsap who was the latest addition to the roster didn't get the chance to make it to the last 12 spots. He probably didn't meet the coaches expectations on the floor.

Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo, via USA Today's Sam Amick, stated:

"It's hard to create more than two pure points (on the roster)," Colangelo said. "Kyrie is a pure point. John Wall is a point. Derrick is a point. Curry can play point, but he's a two (shooting guard). Harden is a two-three (shooting guard-small forward). Damian is a tweener also – he goes both ways.

"It's hard to carry three pure points unless we felt we were very unsure. For example, if Rose had come in and hasn't looked the way he has, we would've said, 'Geesh, maybe we have to carry three points, but it appears that we don't have to.'"

The team now includes four point guards who are Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, and Derrick Rose.

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