Jerry Colangelo won’t completely rule out Derrick Rose, anyone for 2016 Olympics

USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Derrick Rose wouldn’t play for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics, because Rose missed this week’s minicamp mandatory for Olympic consideration.

Don’t hold Colangelo to that, though.

Colangelo, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

“I always said you never shut the door entirely on anyone. I mean, why? To prove what? Was I disappointed Derrick [Rose] wasn’t here? Sure. Because, we want the best for him. We want the best for him. We want him to get back to the level that he once was. So let’s just see how things go in the future.”

This is the logical approach.

Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Mike Conley and Michael Carter-Williams deserve credit for attending the minicamp. That should give them an advantage over Rose.

Even without that advantage, it’s difficult to see Rose being more deserving than three of that group. With the advantage, it’s nearly impossible.

But it’s not completely impossible. If Rose reverts to his MVP form – Westbrook indicates it’s possible – and other point guards don’t play for whatever reason, Rose might deserve to represent the Americans in Rio.

I’m hardly counting on that, but Rose is still in the running. He’s just starting behind the blocks.