USA Basketball has a chance to win its fourth consecutive gold medal this summer at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and the chances of that happening could be incredibly high if the best American talent decides to compete. During the FIBA World Cup last summer, the men's team had a poor showing after most of the big names decided not to participate in the tournament, which resulted in a disappointing seventh-place finish. However, with the Olympics just around the corner Team USA has a chance to right the wrongs of last summer and show the rest of the world that it still the country to beat on the Olympic stage.

The journey to the Olympics will be a long one, and the first step is figuring out who will fill the roster headed to Tokyo this summer. On Monday, USA Basketball announced its 44 finalists who will have a chance to compete for one of the final 12 roster spots, which will be announced later this year.

"Over the course of the remainder of the NBA season we'll continue to monitor all of the athletes," said managing director of USA Basketball Jerry Colangelo. "Selecting the 12-man USA roster will obviously be an extremely challenging and difficult process, and we will again attempt to select the very best team possible to represent our country and who we hope will be successful in our difficult mission of repeating as Olympic champions for a fourth consecutive Olympics."

The list of 44 players includes 29 players who have previously played for Team USA, rounded out by a slew of newcomers:

The national team will be led by San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce and Villanova University coach Jay Wright comprising the assistant coaching staff. Popovich is taking over for Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski, who previously led Team USA to three consecutive gold medals.

"Anyone who follows international basketball knows there are many really good players from all around the world, and therefore there are many excellent national teams," Popovich said. "International basketball has improved so much from the days of the Dream Team. The Olympics in 2020 will be a true competition, and there are many teams that will have a legitimate shot at capturing gold."

USA Basketball hasn't lost a game at the Olympics since the 2004 Games, where the team finished with a bronze medal. That bronze medal served as a turning point for USA Basketball, which coincided with when Colangelo took over as director of the Men's National Team in 2005.