Potential International lineup for Team USA vs World future All-Star Game format
By Ben Handler
Starting Guard: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada
Shai is the other no-brainer to start and handle primary ballhandling responsibilities alongside Doncic. SGA is having an incredible year, leading the league in 30+ point games, and is second in the league’s MVP race.
Like Luka, SGA would lower his usage but would garner less attention, and have more room to attack defenses. Shai is willing to play off the ball and can attack closeouts, but he’s not the most lethal catch-and-shoot floor spacer; this would be a change in role for him as well.
Realistically, the team would likely stagger the minutes of Doncic and Shai as much as possible just due to an overall lack of guard depth and ballhandling. But they would be a force playing together and the defense would have an impossible time deciding which player to focus on in crunch time.
SGA is also a very good defensive player, and he would need to be as the primary perimeter defender. He’d be tasked with taking on the primary guard creator for the opposition and that includes a lot of studs from the American squad.
With Shai and Luka on the perimeter, you could make a strong case that this international team would boast the best two guards in the entire NBA. They’d be an absolutely lethal duo, one that would be hard for any two defenders on earth to handle.