Karalis: Olympic basketball gives us some fun, some concerns, and false positives

The Olympics are fun. They always give us interesting breakout stars, incredible stories of perseverance, and the agony of a crushing mistake. They show us the best sports have to offer. 

The basketball tournament shows us some of that, but it also throws a lot of false positives into the mix. 

NBA fans will watch the Olympics hoping for a glimpse into their team’s future when they watch one of their players play for their home country. Orlando Magic fans, for example, are fixated on Franz Wagner’s Olympics to see if he can turn around a subpar season and help launch them into the top half of the East and, maybe, be a cornerstone of a contender.

And Wagner is performing fairly well. He’s fourth in Paris, averaging nearly 21 points per game on 50% shooting. However, he’s still only shooting 20% on 3-pointers, tempering some of the enthusiasm. That's not to say all Olympic results carry over, but it doesn’t offer much encouragement that his shooting touch will come back next season. After shooting 35.4% and 36.1% from deep, Wagner’s shooting dropped to 28%. Some improved shooting would have been a welcome sign. 

But it wouldn’t have been THE sign. The line is about a foot-and-a-half shorter. The court is a couple of feet shorter and nearly a foot narrower. There's no defensive 3-second rule. All of these things can play tricks with the results we’re seeing. 

Guerschon Yabusele helped eliminate a stacked Canadian team with a 22-point, five-rebound performance. He was 2-4 from 3 and 8-9 at the line. Patty Mills … excuse me … FIBA Patty Mills continued his string of incredible performances for the Australian national team, forcing an overtime versus Serbia and nearly upsetting reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. 

Invariably, big performances like this, especially against teams with NBA players, bring the questions of whether these players will get another chance to make an NBA roster. And while the search for quality players on minimum contracts certainly makes it possible, the unique circumstances of these performances likely won’t sway many front offices. 

Evan Fournier, despite a decent night here and there internationally, has proven NBA deficiencies. Mills couldn't get off Miami’s bench last year except in desperation. Yabusele has been out of the league since 2019.

Could Yabu get a camp invite off his Olympics? Sure. There might be a front office whose curiosity was piqued enough to bring him in for a look. Will he stick around, though? 

The Olympic tournament can trigger some weird results, so I’m not going to get caught up in the speculation of someone who had a couple of good games. I am, however, going to look at the non-performers and wonder out loud about them, though. 

We can start with Boston’s own Jayson Tatum, about whom there is almost no concern. The only eyebrow-raising part of his game is how his jumper has abandoned him (I’m taking a deeper look at this for a more longform piece). He’s 0-6 on 3-pointers in Paris, unable to find a rhythm in sporadic playing time. This comes on the heels of a playoff run during which he shot 28.3%. 

I’m not too worried about this. He has a long history as a good shooter, so it shouldn’t be an issue. At the same time, I think it’s fair to wonder if he’s over-tinkered with his shot. 

The biggest question of the Olympics is Jamal Murray’s performance for the Canadian team. 

His postseason performance, shooting 31.5% in 12 games as the Nuggets were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves was concerning. He followed that up with an absolute dud of an Olympics when he was seen as a cornerstone for a team poised to challenge the Americans for gold. 

The Nuggets, who were held up as the one team built to beat the Celtics last season, have made curious, money-motivated decisions this summer that put pressure on the team’s remaining stars. Nikola Jokic is obviously great, but the losses of key role players now make it even more important that Jokic’s star-level cast live up to their capabilities. Murray, along with Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon, have to feel the pressure of taking some of the heat off the champs from two seasons ago. Murray is the second-fiddle, and if he’s not what he used to be, then the Nuggets are in trouble in a stacked Western Conference. 

The Olympics are a nice bridge through what normally would be a very quiet period (especially for the Celtics). They put on a good show full of twists and turns, and some unexpected results, and some things to watch for this upcoming season.