Hornets’ PJ Washington, Miles Bridges selected for Team USA Basketball Select Team
Though there won’t be any Hornets joining Team USA in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics, some of Buzz City’s stars will be helping to prepare them for the journey.
Charlotte Hornets forwards Miles Bridges and PJ Washington were selected to join the Team USA Select Team, the Hornets announced on Thursday. The Select Team is made up of 17 American professional players — 13 youngsters and four veterans — from the NBA and beyond that will join the main team during its Las Vegas training camp from July 6-9, working with them in preparation for the Olympics.
While in Las Vegas, Washington, Bridges and the Select Team will be coached by Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, who will have a supporting cast consisting of Gonzaga head coach Mark Few — who coached the Select Team in 2019 — and Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jamahl Mosley.
“I’m excited for both Miles and PJ to have been chosen to play with the USA Select Team,” said Hornets head coach James Borrego in a statement to The Observer. “This USA Basketball experience will provide a tremendous opportunity for both of them to continue to grow and develop their game. It will be extremely beneficial for our young forwards to practice and compete against some of the most talented players in the world in a top-level environment. We’re thrilled to have Miles and PJ represent the Charlotte Hornets.”
Off an All-Rookie Second Team selection in the 2019-20 season, the 6-foot-7 Washington showed marginal improvements in basically every stat during his sophomore season. The power forward averaged 12.9 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game over 64 games, starting in all but three. His biggest leaps came in rebounding — he averaged almost 20 percent more rebounds per game in his second season — and on the foul line, where he improved to 74.5 percent.
In his third season in Charlotte, Bridges also showed almost across-the-board improvements. Over 66 games — though he only started 19 — Bridges boasted career-highs in field-goal percentage (50.3), three-point percentage (40), rebounds per game (6.0) and assists per game (2.2). While his overall scoring saw a very slight dip from 13.0 points per game to 12.7 this year, he also averaged more than two fewer field-goal attempts per game, showing a general increase in efficiency.
“With all the uncertainty of how many of our Olympic Team members will be available for the USA training camp because of the overlap with the NBA Finals, we chose a USA Select Team consisting of many of the top young NBA players and four players who not only own international experience, but who played recently for USA Basketball in important national team qualifying competitions,” said Team USA Managing Director Jerry Colangelo in a statement.
“If we need to add players to fill out our roster for any of our exhibition games, we feel this USA Select Team has an excellent variety of skilled players to choose from.”
Playing on the Select Team this summer, Bridges and Washington will get to work alongside the most exciting youngsters in the league, including Rookie of the Year candidates Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Tyrese Haliburton of the Sacramento Kings — both of whom, of course, fell short of Hornets teammate and eventual winner LaMelo Ball, who won’t be on either U.S. team this summer.
Playing alongside other great young players — and scrimmaging against some of the NBA’s biggest stars — could be just what the Hornets duo needs to continue their growth.