Richard Jefferson names the best starting five for Team USA: "The U.S. has the unique ability to have the biggest lineup maybe in the history of basketball"

As Team USA continues its preparations for the 2024 Olympic basketball tournament in Paris, it is faced with the same dilemma that other Dream Teams have faced: Which players will start for the squad?

With a star-studded lineup, anyone on Team USA has a legit claim to be a starter on the team. But in the end, the responsibility of picking the starters belongs to head coach Steve Kerr. However, while Kerr has yet to finalize his first five, former NBA player Richard Jefferson offers his suggestion to Team USA.

"The U.S. has a unique ability to have the biggest lineup, maybe in the history of basketball," declared Jefferson. "We have LeBron James at 6'9'' ½, We have Jayson Tatum at 6'8'' ½, 6'9'', So we put Kevin Durant at 6'11'', he's gonna be my small forward. And we're gonna put Anthony Davis, and we're gonna put Joel Embiid. You have 6'10'' across the board."

It gives the Americans size and versatility

The one thing from that lineup that you could perhaps tweak, per RJ, is to remove Jayson Tatum in favor of Stephen Curry to get better floor spacing. Also, Curry and Durant played together in Golden State, so they already know how to play off each other.

But then, with Kevin on the wing, he's going to draw the same attention as Steph does. Jefferson also says that a healthy Embiid will demand a double-team once he gets the ball down low, and that, too, will open up opportunities for the Americans.

"You can switch one through four with Joel Embiid possibly able to guard some of the guys on the perimeter. You're talking about size, you're talking about versatility. And the reason why I like LeBron James at the point guard, he's 5th all-time in assists," added RJ.

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Kerr to continue mixing different combinations

Team USA started Curry, Edwards, Tatum, LeBron, and Embiid in their close win over Australia in Abu Dhabi on Monday. Against Team Canada, Kerr used Steph, James, Joel, Holiday, and Booker. After the game against the Aussies, Steve talked to reporters about experimenting with his lineups.

"These next few games, I'm going to continue to experiment with the lineups," Kerr said . "Joel is getting better and better every day. It usually takes big guys a little bit longer to get rhythm and flow. I love Joel, he's a dominant player. I think it's going to be important for us to figure out the best combinations and put the right people together. That's still a work in progress."

The Americans easily dispatched Canada 86-72 in their first tune-up game but had a much tougher outing against the Aussies, who refused to go away. The good thing, if there is such for Team USA, is that KD has yet to play for them. Durant is Team USA's all-time leading scorer and is listed as day-to-day but is expected to be ready for the tournament.

Related: Devin Booker urges Team USA to clean things up quickly before the Olympics tournament starts: "We will not win a gold medal"