Blazers F LaMarcus Aldridge, G Damian Lillard Included In USA Basketball's 2014 Player Pool

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge could be included in a USA Basketball pool of players that will eventually make up the rosters for the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

USA Basketball is expected to soon announce a pool of players, including [Dwight] Howard, that will be available for USA Basketball training camp and the World Cup this summer. Howard could be part of an American frontcourt rotation that will likely include Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Update: Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports on Twitter that Aldridge is indeed included in the pool.

Hearing: DeMarcus Cousins, LaMarcus Aldridge and Steph Curry have all earned spots in USA Basketball's 2014 player pool to be announced THU

USA Basketball expected to announce list of 25-30 names Thursday from which 12 will be selected to play in World Cup of Basketball in Spain

Update: Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports on Twitter that Blazers guard Damian Lillard is also in.

#Blazers G Damian Lillard is one of the players selected in the pool for Team USA competition, a source informs @CSNNW.

Update (Thursday): The Blazers have announced both selections.

"I'm truly honored to be selected to the U.S. Men's National Team," said Aldridge. "I'm looking forward to the challenge of making the team and grateful for the opportunity to represent my country."

"I'm honored to be selected for the 2014-16 USA National Team," said Lillard. "It's been a dream of mine to have an opportunity to represent my country. I'm joining a talented group of players and l look forward to starting the program this summer."

Back in December, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports reported that Aldridge's status with the program wasn't clear.

Despite saying he would reach out to USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and express interest in playing this summer, Aldridge has not done so, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports. The person requested anonymity because of the fluid nature of the relationship.

In October, Aldridge told CSN Northwest that he planned to contact Colangelo about playing for the U.S. in the summer. Earlier this year, Aldridge said, "If they call me, I'm definitely interested in doing it."

Back in January 2013, Aldridge said he was "definitely interested" in playing for USA Basketball.

Previously, Aldridge backed out of the process after being added to the USA Basketball program in advance of the 2010 World Championships team for personal reasons. He was named as a finalist for the 2012 London Olympics team in January 2012 but couldn't proceed through the process because he underwent hip surgery.

Lillard participated in a USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas last summer and stood out as one of the top point guards in the camp, which was a showcase for up-and-coming players. The consensus following the camp was that Lillard would be included in the initial player pool.

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-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com |Twitter