Kings' Harrison Barnes among USA Basketball 2020 Olympic finalists

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Harrison Barnes loves to represent his country in international play. He might get that chance again this summer.

Barnes, along with 43 others, will compete as a finalist for one of 12 roster spots that will represent Team USA at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, beginning with the Opening Ceremonies on July 24.

The competition will be tough, but the 27-year-old Barnes has been a member of the USA Men’s Basketball program for nearly a decade. He won a gold medal in Rio de Janeiro during the 2016 Olympic games and he was also part of the group that struggled in the 2019 FIBA World Cup last summer.

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During the 2019-20 season, Barnes is averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as the Kings’ starting small forward. His versatility has been an asset for Team USA, but there are a lot of big-name NBA players jumping in the fold for the upcoming games.

De’Aaron Fox, who was part of the Select Team and then earned an invitation to compete at the World Cup, is not part of the contingency that will compete for a roster spot. Marvin Bagley, who has played in just 13 games this season with the Kings, also was left off the invite list after competing with the Select Team last summer.

Barnes won’t be the only Sacramento Kings player vying for a spot at the Olympics. Cory Joseph is part of the Canadian National team and both Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica plan to represent Serbia at the games.

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