Despite missing several big names, Canada Basketball's latest men's national team roster certainly won't be without star power.
Head coach Jay Triano's 12-man squad for Friday's FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifier against the Dominican Republic features budding superstar R.J. Barrett, along with his high school teammate Andrew Nembhard. The 18-year-olds starred for Montverde Academy in Florida last season and both will be heading to marquee NCAA schools in the fall, with Barrett committing to Duke while Nembhard will be attending the University of Florida.
Barrett is a favourite to be chosen first overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, and Triano says that the highly-touted teen is already at the level required to compete on the international stage.
“I think when we’ve watched his progression over the last couple years, we’ve known that he was gonna be part of the national team and he was gonna have a great basketball career in front of him,” Triano told reporters this week. “The fact that it’s happening now is good for us. We’re playing in our country, he gets a chance to play in his home city, which is great, and he’s been really good so far."
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Barrett and Nembhard are joined by NBA veterans Cory Joseph and Kelly Olynyk as Canada looks to exact revenge on its opponent after the Dominican Republic claimed an 88-76 victory when the teams last met in November. The Canadians (3-1) are second in Group D behind the Caribbean nation and could pull into a first-place tie with a win on Friday in Toronto, with both teams also in action against different opponents in the first-round finale next week.
Both Canada and the Dominican Republic have already booked a spot in the second round of FIBA's regional qualification tournament, which starts in September. It remains possible that Canadian NBA players Tristan Thompson (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), who were originally invited to June training camp, will join the team for the September portion of qualifying.
In addition, Tyler Ennis (LA Lakers), Nik Stauskas (Brooklyn Nets), Andrew Wiggins (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Trey Lyles (Denver Nuggets) were listed as "unavailable for June" by Canada Basketball.
Seven countries from the Americas region will qualify for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
Full Canada Roster
| NAME | POSITION | HEIGHT | HOMETOWN | CURRENT CLUB |
| R.J. Barrett | Guard | 6'7" | Mississauga, ON | Montverde Academy (U.S. high school) |
| Anthony Bennett | Forward | 6'8" | Toronto | Maine Red Claws (G-League) |
| Khem Birch | Centre | 6'9" | Montreal | Orlando Magic |
| Dillon Brooks | Forward | 6'7" | Mississauga, ON | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Melvin Ejim | Forward | 6'6" | Toronto | BC UNICS (Russia) |
| Brady Heslip | Guard | 6'2" | Burlington, ON | Trabzonspor (Turkey) |
| Cory Joseph | Guard | 6'3" | Toronto | Indiana Pacers |
| Andrew Nembhard | Guard | 6'4" | Aurora, ON | Montverde Academy (U.S. high school) |
| Kelly Olynyk | Centre | 7'0" | Kamloomps, BC | Miami Heat |
| Dwight Powell | Forward | 6'9" | Toronto | Dallas Mavericks |
| Phil Scrubb | Guard | 6'3" | Richmond, BC | Fraport Skyliners (Germany) |
| Tommy Scrubb | Forward | 6'5" | Richmond, BC | S.S. Felice Scandone (Italy) |