FIBA World Cup: How would the 9 best FIBA squads perform in the NBA?

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NBA Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) /

Germany

PG: Dennis Schroder (Thunder), Maodo Lo (NCAA – Columbia)

SG: Isaac Bonga (Wizards)

SF: Paul Zipser (NBA), Niels Giffey (NCAA – UCONN)

PF: Maxi Kleber (Mavericks), Isaiah Hartenstein (Rockets)

C: Daniel Theis (Celtics), Moritz Wagner (Wizards)

Verdict: Did Ernie Grunfeld draft this team? I realize that the Washington Wizards on this roster aren’t actually his doing but every one of these players seem like guys he would happily trade away a first-round pick to get. This is, approximately, what the Wizards would look like without Bradley Beal this season. Lottery bound is an understatement.

Australia

PG: Matt Dellavedova (Cavaliers), Nathan Sobey (NCAA – Wyoming)

SG: Patty Mills (Spurs), Chris Goulding (NBL Finals MVP 2017-2018)

SF: Joe Ingles (Jazz), Mitch Creek (NBA / G League)

PF: Jonah Bolden (76ers), Nick Kay (All-NBL First Team 2018-2019), Brock Motum (NCAA – Washington St.)

C: Aron Baynes (Suns), Andrew Bogut (NBA), Thon Maker (Pistons), Jock Landale (NCAA – St. Mary’s)

Verdict: People often pontificate about what Ben Simmons would look like leading his own team that was built around him. This would certainly give him the opportunity to be a franchise player. After seeing how scrappy and smart this team looked against Team USA in an exhibition, it would be hard to count them out.

Add Simmons to that mix and then things really get interesting. Picture Simmons pushing the ball with Mills and Ingles spotting up on the wings and potential stretch bigs in Maker and Bolden trailing the play. I have literally no idea how good this team would be but they’d definitely be an NBA League Pass favorite.