Olympic basketball will crown a gold medalist very soon, and some foreign players are about to cash in with contracts to NBA teams. The Charlotte Bobcats don’t look like a team that’s going to grab a guy off a foreign roster, but there are players out there who could help now, and in the very near future.

First, why don’t we start off with a guy from the team that almost shocked the world (and once did) when it nearly beat team USA.

Lithuania’s Mantas Kalnietis, aside from having an awesome name, is a 6’5″ point guard who’s in the top five in assists per game at the Olympics with 5.4 (in just a little over 20 minutes). He plays pro ball in the VTB United League (most recent league I could find him tied to), and this season he’s averaged 21.4 minutes, 8.4 points on 41.9 percent three-point shooting, and 3.2 assists per game.

I don’t pretend to know much about European basketball, but if Kalnietis can improve over the year and become available, a 6’5″ 42 percent three-point shooting point guard wouldn’t be a bad addition to anyone’s roster, let alone the Bobcats’.

A player that’s turning heads in London is 7’2″, 26 year old, Salah Majri from Tunisia. In 32.4 minutes per game at these Olympics, Majri has scored 10.4 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 3.4 shots. Yes, 3.4.

He was almost as good in the African Championships, scoring 8.9 points, with nine rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 24 minutes a game. With his pro team in Belgium he scored 9.2 points, grabbed 7.4 rebounds and blocked 2.5 shots in 26 minutes a game. He also shot above 30 percent from behind the arc.

He worked out for a few NBA teams this summer and played with the Utah Jazz in the summer league, but failed to impress.

If Charlotte doesn’t draft a center next year (or if they can find a way to get him on the cheap this season?!), this guy could be a good addition.

Mehdi Ben Ghnia is another Tunisian who could find his way on to an NBA squad in the future. In these Olympics, the 6’8″, 25 year old power forward has scored 15 points, grabbed 8.6 rebounds and dished out 2.6 assists in 33.8 minutes per game.

He obviously has room for improvement, but, it would be worth it for Charlotte Bobcats management to keep an eye on him and at least give him a summer league invite next year.

Those three guys are players to keep an eye on. I took them from the leader boards in Assists, blocks and rebounds, and all are getable for Charlotte.

If I missed anyone of your favorite Euroleague players, or if you think any of my picks are bat-shit crazy, feel free to let me know in the comments section!

Team USA just flat out dropped an atom bomb on Nigeria at the 2012 Olympics, and there’s really not a nicer, more politically correct way to describe what happened in London.

Destroyed is to soft a word. Obliterated just isn’t harsh enough.

156-73. That was the final score. Nigera lost by 83 points.

What this proves to me, is that if this USA basketball team was firing on all cylanders and everythign went right for them, they could certainly beat the Dream Team.

Basketball blasphemy, I know.

Get over it.

People on the other side of the argument act like this group of players are nothing but a bunch of scrubs.

They’re not.

You could talk matchups all you want; Who would guard Ewing? Who would guard MJ?

All you have to do is look at a game like the one USA just played to figure things out.

Sure, the Dream Team would beat this one 60 or 70 percent of the time, but if Melo, Kobe, Westbrook and co. were on their game like they were today, the Dream Team would have a tough time getting things done.

Do you think 2012′s Team USA could EVER beat the Dream Team? Let us know in the comments section.

It’s pretty simple: France. For no other reason than the fact they have Boris Diaw. Diaw was one of the main reasons for Charlotte’s NBA worst ever record last year. He quit on the team, then for some otherworldly reason, the Bobcats just let him walk… To a championship contender… Without so much as a second round pick in return.

His numbers skyrocketed and he looked like a new person.

If there’s any player in the Olympics Bobcats fans should despise it’s Diaw. Luckily for them, France will be the first team the USA destroys on its way to a Gold Medal.

Byron Mullens and Ben Gordon both could have represented Britain, but Mullens had an injury that kept him off the roster and Gordon never committed.

April 26, 2012; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons shooting guard Ben Gordon (8) during the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at The Palace. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

An ESPN report says Ben Gordon will not be on Britain’s Olympic squad after failing to meet with the team during its US training camp.

Britain’s coach Chris Spice was all in a funk after hearing that Gordon wouldn’t be playing for him:

“It’s really disappointing as he’s a world-class player who would have made a huge difference.”

Gordon is the second Bobcat to be nixed from Britain’s roster; Byron Mullens would’ve likely made the team if it wasn’t for a nagging ankle injury.

Mullens, Gordon and Chicago All Star Luol Deng would’ve given the Olympics’ host nation three NBA players to work with. Instead, Britain, who didn’t qualify for the summer games, but is allowed to play because of its host nation status, will have just Deng.