Steve Kerr’s looming decision: Who starts for U.S. Olympic basketball team?

Envy the basketball coach whose roster is so stacked, he can bring Anthony Davis (or Joel Embiid), Jayson Tatum (or Kevin Durant) and Devin Booker (or Anthony Edwards) off the bench. 

And pity the same coach who must tell Davis (or Embiid), Tatum (or Durant) and Booker (or Edwards) he’s not starting.

Hello, Steve Kerr, we’re looking at you.

Kerr, in his high-profile side gig to coaching the Golden State Warriors, will welcome the U.S. men’s national team to Olympic training camp starting Saturday in Las Vegas. The Americans will play their first exhibition game Wednesday against Canada, in Vegas, and their first Olympic group-play game July 28 against Serbia in Lille, France. 

One big question looming over training camp, naturally: Who starts for the U.S.? Kerr’s 12-man roster bubbles with NBA champions and Most Valuable Players, including three players with a combined 44 All-Star appearances and seven MVP awards in Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Durant.

Curry and James seem like locks to start, with Durant probably getting the nod ahead of Tatum. Edwards or Booker figure to tussle for the 2-guard spot — it would be difficult to sit Edwards after his breakout postseason — and Embiid and Davis are the obvious candidates at center. 

That leaves Jrue Holiday, Tyrese Haliburton, Kawhi Leonard and Bam Adebayo as the other reserves. Holiday, Leonard and Adebayo earned spots on the team mostly because of their tenacious defense, a U.S. weakness in recent international competition, and Haliburton brings elite passing skills. 

Asked about the starting lineup last week on a Zoom call with reporters, Kerr said, “It’s a great question. My staff and I have talked about it quite a bit. It’s a good problem to have. I’m guessing all 12 players on this roster will be in the Hall of Fame someday, so how do you pick five out of 12?

“The idea is, you find combinations that click and two-way lineups that can be effective at both ends. So our big job in Las Vegas is to find five-man combinations that fit, and to ask all 12 guys to fully commit to the goal of winning a gold medal no matter what it looks like, no matter who’s playing.” 

Durant (three-time Olympic gold medalist) and James (two gold medals) bring abundant international experience, including the Olympics. Curry won gold in the 2010 World Championship and 2014 World Cup, but he will make his Olympic debut in France.

All three players are 35 or older — James will turn 40 in December — but they’re still producing at a high level. Durant earned second-team all-NBA honors this past season, while Curry and James both made the third team. 

Tatum was the only U.S. player to land first-team all-NBA recognition.  

Even so, the youngest player on the U.S. team also might be its best. Edwards, who turns 23 next month, soared into another realm during the playoffs, when he averaged 27.6 points, 7 rebounds and 6.5 assists in leading Minnesota to the Western Conference finals. 

Kerr, during a Chronicle interview in May, compared the generation gap on this U.S. team to the 2008 “Redeem Team.” Then, international veterans such as Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd ushered in the next group of standouts, led by James (then 23), Carmelo Anthony (24) and Chris Paul (23).

Kerr expects a similar dynamic in France, with Curry, James and Durant as the elder statesmen. 

“I think the guys on our team are going to just love lifting Anthony up,” Kerr said. 

Another lingering issue for the U.S. team is its health. Leonard (knee), Haliburton (hamstring) and Embiid (knee) all dealt with injuries in the playoffs or during the second half of the NBA season. 

Kerr expects all 12 players “to be ready to roll” for training camp. Leonard will merit particular scrutiny, after he missed 12 of the Los Angeles Clippers’ final 14 games (including the playoffs) with knee inflammation. 

“We’ve been monitoring this all along,” Kerr said. “We’ve been in touch with Kawhi and his people; he’s been working out the last couple of weeks. Every roster spot is important, and you just never know how these things are going to play out with injuries.”

Reach Ron Kroichick: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @ronkroichick