Bradley Beal will miss Tokyo Olympics after entering COVID-19 health and safety protocol, USA Basketball announces

Team USA needs a sub.

Bradley Beal will miss the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo after the Wizards star was placed in the COVID-19 health and safety protocols, USA Basketball announced on Thursday. Pistons star Jerami Grant is also in the COVID protocols under an abundance of caution, team officials said, and his status for the Olympics has yet to be determined.

Beal scored 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting in USA’s 28-point win over Argentina, but he shot 1-of-7 in their loss to Nigeria and turned in 12 points in their loss to Australia. It’s unclear whether USA Basketball will replace the guard with another guard.

If they do, they could choose a player from the USA Select squad — the young players who trained with Team USA at its camp in Las Vegas. That team included Rookie of the Year runner-up Anthony Edwards, Cleveland’s Darius Garland, Miami’s Tyler Herro, Sacramento’s Tyrese Haliburton and Knicks up-and-comers Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin.

Knicks star Julius Randle is also on the radar as Beal’s replacement and would instantly upgrade the team at the center position.

Neither James Harden (hamstring) nor Kyrie Irving (ankle) are expected to replace Beal on the roster, since both had significant leg injuries that hampered them in the playoffs.

Team USA went 1-2 in exhibition games and will play two more exhibition games; against Australia on Friday and vs. Spain on Sunday.

The Olympics begin for Team USA on July 25 in Saitama, Japan. Gregg Popovich’s squad opens up against France and Kevin Durant will play his Nets teammate Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.

“I definitely talked my s—t to TLC a couple times about how he can’t guard me, and how I lock him up on defense,” Durant said about the matchup. “So I can’t wait to talk even more s—t when I see him with his national team.”

BLOCKED BY ANTETOKOUNMPO!

Khris Middleton’s 40-point night propelled the Bucks to a Game 4 victory over the Suns that tied the series at two wins apiece, but it was Giannis Antetokounmpo’s incredible blocked alley-oop that will be remembered for all of time.

With under a minute-and-a-half to go in the fourth quarter and the Bucks nursing a two-point lead, Chris Paul and DeAndre Ayton ran a pick-and-roll, and Paul threw a lob pass that Ayton caught with two hands.

Antetokounmpo rotated over and met Ayton at the rim. His block helped the Bucks avoid a tie game. They went on to win by six.

“In my opinion, it’s the best block of all time,” said Antetokounmpo’s teammate Pat Connaughton. “Obviously we’re a little biased. You can talk about (LeBron James’ block on Andre Iguodala in the 2016 NBA Finals), but as far as a block where he was covering the pick-and-roll, he had to judge where the pass was, where Ayton was catching it and trying to dunk it, above the box. It’s about as impressive as you can get.”

COACHING CAROUSEL

The Mavericks are looking for a new assistant coach after assistant Jamahl Mosley left Dallas to take the head coaching job for the Orlando Magic. The Mavericks recently hired Jason Kidd as head coach and could hire former Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov, according to The Stein Line.

Denver Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. continues to be the frontrunner to land the Washington Wizards head coaching job, where he would lead a backcourt duo of Beal and Russell Westbrook, according to The Athletic.

ROCKET MOTION

The Rockets have offered veteran swingman Eric Gordon in trade talks for Indiana’s No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, according to ESPN Houston. The franchise is attempting to stockpile as many assets as possible to pull off a deal for the No. 1 overall pick, which belongs to the Detroit Pistons.