Men’s basketball: who will represent Canada at TO2015?

July 11, 2015

Canada Basketball is set to open their Toronto 2015 selection camp Sunday at the Air Canada Centre.

Men’s basketball is the final Canadian team to set their roster for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. The selection will run from July 12-17 with 16 players, before the final roster is announced on July 18th.

Andrew Wiggins (front torch) and Steve Nash (back torch) were both a part of lighting the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony.

The NBA Rookie of the Year, Andrew Wiggins, was part of the Opening Ceremony (along with basketball legend and men’s national team general manager Steve Nash), but unfortunately he will not be taking part in Toronto 2015. However, Anthony Bennett, who was selected first overall in the 2013 NBA Draft (the year before Wiggins), will be taking part in the camp and is expected to make the team.

Bennett is one of only three players at the camp who have NBA experience. The other NBA veterans looking to make the team are Andrew Nicholson and Gursimran “Sim” Bhullar. Nicholson was a first round selection of the Orlando Magic in 2012 (19th overall) and has played in 191 games over his first three seasons. Bhullar, who is listed at over 7’5″, went undrafted and was signed by the Sacramento Kings prior to the 2014-15 season. He played in three games during his rookie season.

Andrew Nicholson (7) and Cory Joseph (5) have each played for Team Canada in the past.

Unfortunately, the Canadian team will not feature recently signed Toronto Raptor Cory Joseph, but his older brother Devoe has a shot of making the squad. The older Joseph never played for the Raptors in the NBA, but he did take suit up for them in the Summer League during 2012-13 and 2013-14. Joseph – the younger one – will likely represent Canada at the FIBA Americas Men’s Championship, which will be held in Mexico City from August 31 – September 12.

Olympian and men’s team Head Coach Jay Triano is looking forward to finalizing his roster. He told Canada Basketball: “We’re excited to begin our 2015 season…This will be a quick and competitive tryout, as we have a good mix of team Canada veterans and up-and-coming talent vying for a place on the team.”

Men’s national team Head Coach Jay Triano (left) and General Manager Steve Nash (right) will announce the TO 2015 roster on July 18th.

Once selected, Team Canada’s men will compete in Group A at Toronto 2015. They will face the Dominican Republic (July 21), Argentina (July 22) and Mexico (July 23). All of their games will take place at the Ryerson Athletic Centre.

The 16 athletes invited to the camp are (in alphabetical order):