Team USA was eliminated prior to the championship game at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. And while there's plenty of blame (and credit) to go around, one of the reasons this group came up short was undoubtedly a roster that didn't have as much size and talent as the Americans could have sent.

Now, that isn't to say the United States can simply add a few stars to the mix and cruise to the title at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Even Kobe Bryant's 2008 Redeem Team struggled a bit with Spain in that year's championship game. A fully healthy Serbian squad with Nikola Jokić, Bogdan Bogdanović and Vasilije Micić could prove a similar challenge next summer.

But there's little doubt Team USA can (and probably will) send a better team to the Olympic tournament than the one we just saw.

Several current All-Stars and some legends sat out this summer. Even the list of contenders for the last couple spots on a best-case-scenario roster (which you'll find at the end of this slideshow) will look like a team that could contend for a medal by itself.

So, if all of America's best players make themselves available for the next big international tournament, what would the team look like? Scroll below to find out.

Starting Guard: Stephen Curry

He may be a bit past his prime, but Stephen Curry's name is one of the first that comes up when you think of who wasn't in action in this year's World Cup.

He was the face of the NBA for much of the 2010s (and 2020s), the best shooter in the history of basketball and arguably the best point guard of all time.

Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton and Austin Reaves are all solid guards. Brunson and Haliburton will be in the mix for All-Star spots next season. But replacing any of them with Curry would've immediately changed the prospects of that team.

Curry's range would completely change the geometry of the floor too. The FIBA game is slightly more cramped, and that includes a three-point line shorter than the NBA's. Curry would force opposing defenses to guard him 10 feet beyond the line, which would open things up for everyone else inside.

Starting Guard: Devin Booker

Devin Booker has been one of the game's most complete scorers for most of his career, but he's reached another, more complete, level as a postseason performer.

In his 43 playoff games, he's putting up 28.0 points, 5.2 assists and 2.8 threes, while shooting 48.5 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from deep and 89.1 percent from the line.

And while he's probably not going to contend for any All-Defense nods in the near future, he competes on that end. His 6'5" frame gives him good size for a 2, which also helps.

With him and Curry, USA would almost certainly have the best backcourt in Paris (though Canada's Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might have something to say about that).

Starting Forward: Jimmy Butler

Some of the things this summer's version of Team USA was severely lacking included rebounding, defense and good-ol' fashioned intensity.

Jimmy Butler would help on all three fronts.

When engaged, Butler is still one of the best perimeter defenders in basketball. He can take over a game on that end. And opposing teams certainly wouldn't be able to hammer away in the post against him like they did Reaves in this tournament.

Over his four postseason runs with the Miami Heat, Butler has also grabbed 6.8 rebounds per game, an excellent number for a wing. And his 5.7 assists in the same setting suggests he'd bring the kind of ball-moving game that thrives in FIBA play. On a team with Curry and Booker, it's easy to imagine Butler being content just setting those two up.

Of course, he can put a stamp on the game as a scorer too. He draws fouls the traditional way (more actual contact; less flopping), which would also help on the international stage.

And the competitiveness that has helped him reach two of the last four Finals would come in handy in one-and-done games.

Starting Forward: Kevin Durant

Like Curry, Kevin Durant is past his prime. Injuries are a very real concern for him now.

When you include the 2019-20 season he missed entirely due to a torn Achilles, Durant has averaged just 34.3 appearances per campaign over the last four years.

But when he plays, Durant is still perhaps the most unguardable, high-volume scorer in basketball.

Over the last two years, he's put up 29.5 points per game with a true shooting percentage 7.9 points over the league average.

He also has solid rebounding (7.1) and assist (5.7) averages over that stretch, suggesting he'd help in those two areas, as well.

And, on what would essentially be an All-Star team playing 10-minute-quarter games, he probably wouldn't be required to play much more than 20 minutes per game. That'd cut down the injury risk.

Perhaps most importantly, though, Durant has played in each of the last three Olympic tournaments and is one of the most prolific scorers in Team USA history. In 31 games for the senior national team (which includes a World Cup appearance in 2010), KD has put up 20.6 points. And he has four gold medals to show for it.

Starting Center: Anthony Davis

One of the most glaring and persistent issues for the 2023 Team USA was its struggle against size. Hefty centers like Nikola Vučević and Jonas Valančiūnas had their way inside.

And the Americans were crushed on the boards as a team in both of those games.

Anthony Davis isn't exactly the bruiser either of those two are, and he just had to be pulled from guarding Jokić in the Western Conference Finals, but there's no question he's more fit for the task than Jaren Jackson Jr., who's almost strictly a 4 who's always struggled on the boards.

AD's coming off a season in which he averaged 12.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. And while he can't space the floor like JJJ, his willingness to rebound and mix it up inside would more than outweigh the lost outside shooting.

Reserve Guard: Damian Lillard

At 33 years old, Damian Lillard is another player you'd think is past his prime, but he just averaged a career-high 32.2 points in 2022-23.

In a season in which Jokić averaged a mind-bending 24.5 points and 9.8 assists with a 70.1 true shooting percentage, Lillard led the league in offensive estimated plus-minus (EPM is one of NBA front offices' most trusted catch-all metrics).

Having that kind of firepower to lead your bench would, to put it lightly, make Team USA a nightmare to deal with when both sides start filtering in reserves.

Plus, playing in 2024 would give Lillard a chance to redeem himself after struggling through an abdominal injury to average 11.2 points and shoot 38.3 percent from the field during the 2020 Olympics.

Reserve Guard: Anthony Edwards

Along with Haliburton and Reaves, Anthony Edwards was a bright spot for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup. Someone from this squad deserves a shot at redemption, and Edwards should be the one.

For one thing, he has the highest upside of anyone from the 2023 team. And his size and physicality from the guard spot proved a problem for just about every American opponent this summer.

In 24.4 minutes, Edwards averaged 18.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists, while shooting 48.0 percent from the field.

And that was as a just-turned-22-year-old No. 1 option who was the focus of every opponent's defense.

Even facing other nations' top perimeter defenders, Edwards sometimes looked like he was playing a different sport. He'd glide around defenders and explode to the rim like no one was there. In a supporting role, against lesser defenders, he might be even more dangerous.

Reserve Forward: Jayson Tatum

There's certainly an argument to have Jayson Tatum start for this hypothetical team.

Over the last three NBA seasons, he's seventh in wins over replacement player (Curry and Butler are the only Americans in front of him), largely thanks to averages of 27.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals.

Like the forwards already listed, he'd help on the rebounding front where USA was weak this year. And his length and activity on defense would prove useful in passing lanes against national team offenses that love to move the ball all over the floor.

Tatum, like others mentioned here, is also coming off a gold medal for the Americans in 2020, where his 15.2 points trailed only Durant's 20.7 among Americans.

Reserve Forward: LeBron James

LeBron James will be 39 (and just a few months shy of 40) during the 2024 Olympics. He hasn't played for Team USA since 2012.

But how fun would one last go-round for gold be? Especially when you consider he'd be re-teaming with Durant and playing with Curry for the first time ever.

On a team full of veterans, LeBron would have a chance to be the leader, much like Kobe was for the 2008 Redeem Team.

And while his name alone would probably put him in the starting five, imagining LeBron, Lillard and Tatum against second units is pretty exciting.

Reserve Center: Bam Adebayo

At 6'9", Bam Adebayo is a bit undersized to play the 5 in an international tournament that will once again be loaded with size, but he averaged 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks for the gold medal team in 2020.

Like Davis, Adebayo is a more consistent and hungry rebounder than Jackson. That alone could make him more useful in 2024, but his perimeter defense would be helpful too.

Plus, Adebayo has long been one of the NBA's better passing big men. He hasn't been able to show his playmaking chops quite as much since Kyle Lowry joined the Miami Heat, but he averaged 5.3 assists over the course of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Assists alone aren't indicative of passing ability, but they're also not meaningless. And having another ball-mover in FIBA games, where team play is crucial, wouldn't hurt.

The Joel Embiid Recruitment

Team USA can already improve on its center situation by bringing AD and Bam to Paris, but Joel Embiid is looming as a potential addition for two different countries that could shift the odds in 2024.

Reports from this summer suggest that both the Americans and France are after Embiid, and it's not hard to see why.

He's a 7'0", near-300-pound behemoth, who's averaged over 30 points for the last three years in the NBA. He's also a significantly better rebounder than JJJ, which might make up for the slight step back in rim protection.

If Team USA landed him, he'd likely start and dominate in whatever minutes he played.

Others in the Mix

Of course, that's just 10 players (11 if you count Embiid). The rosters for these international tournaments carry 12.

Consider, for a moment, who might be in the mix for those last two spots (and this list is by no means exhaustive).

• James Harden
• Kawhi Leonard (seems unlikely, given his injury and load-management history)
• Kyrie Irving
• Tyrese Haliburton
• Ja Morant
• Jrue Holiday
• Trae Young
• Darius Garland
• Paul George
• Julius Randle
• DeMar DeRozan
• Jalen Brunson
• De'Aaron Fox
• Desmond Bane
• Aaron Gordon
• Michael Porter Jr.
• Zach LaVine
• Mikal Bridges
• Zion Williamson
• Jaylen Brown

There's no question the world is catching up to the United States in this sport. The team-first way that several other nations play, and the way in which they build their rosters and cultivate chemistry, may be areas where they're already ahead.

But America's talent pool is still ridiculously deep, particularly at guard.

Like I said at the top, you could pluck some combination of 12 names from the list above (or perhaps add a few of your own) and come up with a medal-contending roster.

Adding two of them to the 10 already detailed would give Team USA an absurd (though no longer invincible) team.