Steve Nash names national team training camp roster

Canadian senior men's national team general manager Steve Nash was in Toronto on Monday to announce the names of 18 players taking part in a training camp starting on Friday at the Air Canada Centre.

"It's been exciting watching and monitoring the achievements of our many talented athletes this year," Nash said in a release. "It truly is the golden age of basketball in this country and we plan to build upon this momentum over the next three years as we look toward the 2016 Olympics and beyond.

"Our immediate goal is to prepare the team over the next month to be in the best possible position to secure a berth to next years FIBA World Cup."

Canadian head coach Jay Triano was also on hand for the announcement, and said he can't wait to get started ahead of the team's first competition at the 2013 Jack Donohue International Classic, a two-game exhibition series against the Jamaican National Team on Aug. 8th and 10th.

"I said to Steve, 'Man, this is not an easy job as it used to be we had hard time convincing NBA players to play for our country,"' Triano said at a news conference. "[Now in the future] we're going to have to cut an NBA player off of our Canadian national team."

"Steve says, 'That's great,' I said, 'Not for me,' I don't want to be that guy," he said. "That's where we are."

Nash, himself a star player with the Los Angeles Lakers, calls it Canada's "golden age of basketball."

"We have a great depth of talent and I am keeping close watch over all of our players in every age-group," Triano said. "This team will be built over time from the emergence of our young players and the leadership of our veterans.

"Our staff is dedicated to making the most of our time together in camp to prepare for the challenges ahead."

Notable omissions from the list were Anthony Bennett (the Cavaliers' 1st overall selection in the 2013 NBA Entry Draft) and Kelly Olynyk (picked13th overallby the Celtics), as both are recovering from inujuries.

Highly-touted high school player Andrew Wiggins was also absent from the roster.

Full Canadian roster