Kyrie Irving is a "Lock" for Rio Olympics if he chooses to play

Well, LeBron James says he's not likely going to be playing in the Rio Olympics, but that doesn't mean Kyrie Irving is necessarily skipping the event. Marc Stein says that Irving would be a lock, along with Klay Thompson, if they choose to play.

Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson are huge Coach K favorites and locks for Rio if available but both are still "deliberating" after The Finals

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 23, 2016

This makes sense. Irving won MVP honors at the FIBA World Cup, and is a known Coach K favorite, having gone to Duke. Irving's never played this far into a season before, though, and he's likely pretty worn down from a tough playoff run. Obviously I think we'd all like to see him play, but making sure his body right is the first priority.

It's starting to look like the United States will be sending a skeleton crew to Rio. That said, they should still easily win gold with the older international powers starting to show their age and the younger ones not quite ready to take the leap.