Is Anthony Edwards Team USA’s Top Scorer? Power Ranking Potential No. 1 Options

With Team USA’s minicamp under way in Las Vegas, Anthony Edwards got the internet buzzing with his thoughts on the roster’s hierarchy.

“I’m still the No. 1 option,” Edwards told reporters on Sunday. “Y’all might look at it differently. … They’ve got to fit in to play around me. That’s how I feel.”

That’s a bold statement for a 22-year-old, especially in the context of a team that includes…

• the NBA’s all-time leader in points in LeBron James;
• a center who just averaged more points than minutes in 2023-24 in Joel Embiid;
• the greatest shooter of all time in Stephen Curry; and
• arguably the best pure scorer ever in Kevin Durant.

But boldness is what we’ve come to expect from Edwards, and his last 12 months suggest he can back up that quote.

Of course, he isn’t the only player in the mix for that distinction. The players listed above don’t even make up the entire list of potential choices.

Here, we’ll break down the chances of who will emerge as Team USA’s No. 1 option.

Before we get to the top five, it’s worth mentioning a handful of dynamic scorers who’d lead plenty of NBA teams in scoring, but probably don’t quite have the stature or attitude necessary to ascend above the rest of this particular roster.

Devin Booker has a 70-point performance in his past and has averaged 27.2 points per game over the last three seasons, but a lot of his production comes as an on-ball creator. On a team with LeBron and point guards like Curry and Tyrese Haliburton, Booker isn’t likely to get the volume of shots necessary to lead this team in scoring.

Anthony Davis is a superstar as well, but he’s in a 1A-1B situation on his own NBA team, much less Team USA. On a roster with as many players who can create from scratch as this one, AD’s defense is going to be a lot more valuable than his scoring.

Then there’s Kawhi Leonard, who has a knack for elevating his game, including his scoring, in high-leverage situations. It’s easy to imagine him playing a relatively low-minute role on Team USA, though. He just missed the tail end of the Los Angeles Clippers’ postseason run with a right knee injury, and his injury history suggests the coaching staff should be cautious with him.

And finally, there’s Jayson Tatum. He’s coming off the first title of his career, but the Boston Celtics broke through as a team, and Tatum’s willingness to defer was critical. On a squad with as many superstar scorers as Team USA, Tatum isn’t likely to assert himself to the degree necessary to lead it in scoring.

There is no bigger personality and celebrity on the roster than LeBron James.

Although he’s 39 years old, he proved last season that he’s still capable of both running an offense and scoring like a No. 1 option.

LeBron is likely to handle the ball as much as anyone on the roster and will make plenty of decisions on who will finish plays.

Given the way he’s played throughout his career, that decision will often be someone other than himself, though. On a roster as stacked as this one, the pass-first instincts LeBron has flashed for years will shine through.

So, while LeBron will take over as a scorer in multiple games and moments, he’s probably not going to be the No. 1 scoring option for this iteration of Team USA.

There are plenty of examples of Stephen Curry being deferential, too. His willingness to cede much of his all-time great team’s offense to Kevin Durant in the mid-2010s was a career-defining trait.

Curry has averaged 27.7 points and 4.7 threes over the last nine seasons, but he’s one of the most selfless stars we’ve ever seen.

That factor doesn’t take him out of the running for this distinction altogether, though.

The FIBA three-point line is slightly shorter than the NBA’s. There will be games in which Curry seems to be pouring in triples like they’re layups.

With the extra point he gets on those makes, his point totals could add up quickly.

This is about attitude as much as anything.

Edwards doesn’t have the career or scoring resume of all the players detailed to this point, but he might be the only one willing to answer the question the way he did on Sunday.

No matter the situation, Edwards views himself as the alpha. That led him from a presumed reserve to Team USA’s leading scorer for the 2023 FIBA World Cup (though that team finished fourth in that tournament). It’s part of why he’s already in the top 10 of NBA history for career playoff points per game.

So, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, and regardless of who’s on the floor with him, expect Edwards to get his shots up. For a player as good as him, points will naturally follow those shots.

In recent major tournaments, FIBA referees haven’t called shooting fouls as frequently as they’re called in the NBA, which has caused Team USA some problems. That’s a concern for Joel Embiid.

He’s averaged a whopping 11.7 free-throw attempts per game (or roughly one attempt every 2.9 minutes played) over the last three seasons. A good chunk of those have come from blatant foul-baiting.

But there will also be plenty of opponents who have no choice but to legitimately foul Embiid inside. He’s an unstoppable offensive force. On a team as loaded as this one, he probably won’t face a ton of double-teams inside.

When healthy, Embiid is the most prolific scorer in the NBA right now. These Olympics give him the opportunity to prove himself the most prolific in the world.

Over the course of NBA history, it’s hard to point to many players who made scoring from anywhere on the floor look as effortless as Kevin Durant. That’s translated to multiple different Olympic runs.

KD doesn’t just hold the Team USA record for highest scoring average in an Olympic tournament. He has each of the top three marks on that list. In 2020, he put up 20.7 points per game. In 2012, he was at 19.5. And in 2016, he averaged 19.4.

With all the other scorers on this roster, he might not get to that level again, but he too will face mostly single coverage. He’ll score from all three levels—the shorter three-point line might help him more than Curry, who’s known for his way-beyond-the-line range. And he’ll be a walking mismatch.

Plenty of other countries around the world are catching up to American basketball in the frontcourt. Serbia has Nikola Jokić. France has Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama (and could’ve had Embiid). Several other European nations have bigs who start in the NBA.

But Team USA’s opponents aren’t going to be equipped with the right forwards to slow down a 6’11” flamethrower like Durant.

On a team full of No. 1 talents, he should still emerge as its No. 1 scorer.