Report: Tristan Thompson will not play for the Canadian National Team in the FIBA World Cup

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Despite being one of the 29 players listed to try out for the Canadian National Team, Tristan Thompson will not participate in the upcoming FIBA World Cup.


This comes as somewhat of a surprise, as Thompson has been a consistant presence on the Canadian National Team. He played for Team Canada at the 2013 FIBA Americas Championship, the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament and even played in one qualifying game for the upcoming 2019 FIBA World Cup.

Thompson had a solid season for the Cleveland Cavaliers averaging 10.9 points and 10.2 rebounds over 43 games, but a lingering foot injury derailed his ability to stay on the court.

Canada Basketball will now have to look to other bigs to fill Thompson's role.

Among the list of 29 players, there are six players that can play centre – Khem Birch, Chris Boucher, Brandon Clarke, Dwight Powell, Kelly Olynyk and Mfiondu Kabengele.

Powell and Olynyk are both established NBA players at this point in their careers. Birch is still working his way into the Orlando Magic's regular rotation but shows promising upside.

Boucher is coming off of a fantastic season in the G League where he earned both league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. Rookie centre Kabengele had a good showing at Summer League, while Clarke earned Summer League MVP en route to leading the Memphis Grizzlies to the Summer League title.

Thompson's decision to sit out the FIBA Championships are a blow to Team Canada, but there are plenty of young and talented options to fill that roster spot.

Camp will begin August 4-6th in Toronto at the OVO Athletic Centre. The team will then play two exhibition games against Nigeria — one in Toronto at the Mattamy Athletic Centre on August 7th, the other in Winnipeg at Bell MTS Place on August 9th.

DATE ITEM TIME (ET) LOCATION
August 4-6 Training Camp   OVO Athletic Centre – Toronto, ON
August 7 Canada vs. Nigeria (Exhibition) 7:00 PM Mattamy Athletic Centre – Toronto, ON
August 9 Canada vs. Nigeria (Exhibition) 8:00 PM Bell MTS Place – Winnipeg, MB
August 16 Canada vs. Australia (Exhibition) 5:30 AM RAC Arena – Perth, Australia
August 17 Canada vs. Australia (Exhibition) 5:30 AM RAC Arena – Perth, Australia
August 20 Canada vs. New Zealand (Exhibition) 5:30 AM Quaycentre – Sydney, Australia
August 21 Canada vs. New Zealand (Exhibition) 5:30 AM Quaycentre – Sydney, Australia
August 26 Canada vs. USA (Exhibition) 5:30 AM Qudos Bank Arena – Sydney, Australia
September 1 Canada vs. Australia 3:30 AM FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 — China
September 3 Canada vs. Lithuania 7:30 AM FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 — China
September 5 Canada vs. Senegal 3:30 AM FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 — China
Author(s)
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Kyle Irving is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News.