Russia basketball coach David Blatt has selected a 16-man preliminary squad for July’s Olympic qualification tournament in Venezuela, the Russian Basketball Federation said Wednesday.
The squad includes Timofei Mozgov of the Denver Nuggets and CSKA Moscow guard Andrei Kirilenko, who spent a decade at the Utah Jazz.
Other ex-NBA players to receive the call are Kirilenko’s CSKA team-mate Alexander Kaun, who played for the Seattle SuperSonics and the Cleveland Cavaliers and ex-Sacramento Kings guard Sergei Monia.
The preliminary squad will gather for a training camp starting May 31, before Blatt picks 12 players to fight for an Olympic place in Caracas from July 2 through 8.
Only three of the 12 participating teams will qualify for London. Russia will play group stage games against the Dominican Republic and South Korea.
