“…may God help them”: Nikola Jokic’s Serbia squad is the best bet in 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup

2. A Serbia roster full of (relevant) NBA talent

Serbia will likely never match the overall star power if Team USA because we are not likely to get to a point, at least anytime soon, where every player on Team Serbia is a legit NBA player. That being said, it would be ignorant to ignore the amount of NBA talent on the current Team Serbia roster.

Boban Marjanovic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Milos Teodosic and Nemanja Bjelica are all big players that add to Serbia’s size advantage yet also each possess a unique skill that makes them useful in international play.

Bogdanovic is the most intriguing of the bunch and arguably Serbia’s second-best player. He is smack dab in the middle of his prime at 27 years old and again figures to be a primary fixture in Serbia’s lineup due to his blend of athleticism and perimeter scoring prowess.

He averaged 20.4 points per game [Editor’s note: BUCKETS!] over nine games to help Team Serbia grab the silver medal at the 2017 EuroBasket. Bogdanovic also showed off his playmaking skill, finishing second on Team Serbia with 5.0 assists per game. His shooting percentages from 3-point range may vary but Bogdanovic is always aggressive from deep, shooting nearly six 3-pointers per game in international play.

Bogdanovic will be flanked by Boban Marjanovic and Nemanja Bjelicia.

Marjanovic is 7-foot-3, 290 lbs and gives Serbia one of the more intimidating paint presences in the FIBA World Cup. At 2017 EuroBasket the massive center averaged 12.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in just 16 minutes per game.

The bevy of NBA talent at the disposal of coach Djordjevic is the reason for confident quotes like this: “There’s Greece, Russia, France, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, Spain. I don’t think about the Americans at all.”