Kevin Love’s withdrawal from the U.S. team before the FIBA World Cup is entirely understandable: a trade is certainly coming for the All-Star, but not right away. He could lose millions if he is injured.

It’s still a tough break for the team. He’s immensely versatile, can shoot the three and is an excellent rebounder and likely the best outlet passer alive today.

And he knows the system Coach K has put in place very well.

The show must go on, as they say, and that means that as the team is selected, he must be replaced.

The U.S. will already be without LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh, and LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffith and Kawhi Leonard have also changed their minds.

It’s not like the team is bereft of talent. Stephen Curry is a state of the art scorer and perhaps the most dangerous three point shooter in the world today. Kyrie Irving, who has never played with a great set of teammates, is a dazzling ball handler. Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant, while thin, are incredible in different ways.

You may remember that a couple of summers ago, Durant was simply incredible in Turkey, an unstoppable force for the U.S.

And we’ve seen hints in Davis of a player who at his best has Bill Russell-like instincts. No one worried about Russell being thin.

That still leaves the U.S. thin up front, and while DeMarcus Cousins is emotionally erratic, he’s a phenomenal talent. And that makes Boogie a potential answer but also a bigger problem.

Has he grown up? That’s hard to believe, given his recent childish argument with Chris Paul.

On the other hand, he’s made clear that he really values the idea of playing for his country, and a front line of Cousins, Davis and Durant is potentially incredible, and unlike his previous stance, U.S. chief Jerry Colangelo is open to Cousins joining the team. We’re pretty sure he wouldn’t have said that without discussing it with Coach K first.

No one doubts his talent, but a Cousins meltdown could really cost the U.S. dearly.

That said, the U.S. could probably get by with just Davis and Durant and whoever else ends up on the team against anyone but Spain.

To illustrate the changes in the world game, Spain comes in with the Pau brothers, Serge Ibaka and presumably Ricky Rubio.

Spain could certainly win this tournament, if it make the finals, and that front line is going to be tough to stop, particularly with Rubio at the wheel.

The U.S. renaissance is real though and whether it’s Cousins or someone else, Mike Krzyzewski will bring an immensely talented team to the tournament. And now everyone knows that beating Coach K’s team is going to be extremely difficult. That’s an asset which John Wooden had at UCLA and the Dream team had in 1992. It’s been rare since, but that level of doubt is a tremendous asset for the U.S. and a burden for everyone else.