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#2 Julius Randle
Beal is a shooting guard and the natural replacement for him should be another shooting guard. But Team USA is also lacking in firepower, with Kevin Love not really playing as well as he could. Besides, with Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker and Khris Middleton joining after the NBA Finals, they have a ton of perimeter players and can try to bring in a post player with range.
Julius Randle played his best basketball this past season with 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. He also shot a career-high 41.1 percent from 3-point range, making him the perfect power forward for Team USA against international competition.
Randle developed into an excellent passer and he has an inside-outside game that would complement the other players in Team USA well. If coach Gregg Popovich decides that Love isn’t the big man answer off the bench, perhaps they can consider the New York Knicks forward.
#1 Trae Young
One of the problems that plagued Team USA in the exhibition matches against Nigeria and Australia was their messy offensive execution. As good as Damian Lillard is, he’s not as good a playmaker as the team needs him to be.
Trae Young would be an excellent player to take Beal’s place on Team USA's roster. The Atlanta Hawks guard has ridiculous range and his quick first step could easily get him to the ring against international teams. If he kicks out to a teammate at the 3-point line, they will be so wide open that it would be outrageous if they miss it. That’s how we envision Young’s effect on offense.
The 22-year-old averaged 25.3 points and 9.4 assists per game in the 2020-21 season. If not for the ankle injury, we could be watching the Hawks in the NBA Finals instead of the Bucks. And that’s mainly due to Young’s play. Additionally, Young just played recently and would be in better shape than most players, something that Team USA would appreciate.
