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  • Edgar Chaput

2024 Paris Olympics: Team Canada Men’s Basketball Odds, Prediction

With the Paris Olympics basketball tournament set to begin on Saturday, July 27th, expectations are unusually high for Canada. Rarely have the Canadians arrived for a major international tournament with an opportunity as serious as this one to accomplish something special. We look at the national team’s roster and preview their schedule.

Don’t forget to check out our Paris Olympics basketball odds for all the action.

Team Canada Tournament Odds

Ever since the days of Steve Nash and his two NBA MVP trophies, there has been increasing buzz surrounding the crop of players that emerge out of Canada. For every player who caught national attention (Nash), others fell into obscurity (Anthony Bennett), sometimes crippling under the weight of expectations.

Summer 2024 feels different. Are expectations too high or can Canada genuinely make an impact on the tournament? They aren’t favoured to win it. That would be the United States (-667) and justifiably so. That said, Canada has the second-highest price tag alongside France, both of whom are +1100. In other words, they probably aren’t taking home gold, but they should win something. That alone is not a sentiment Canadian basketball fans get to feel very often, that the country should win something.

Canada has been drawn in group A with Australia, Greece, and Spain and is -181 to finish in first place. You know what? They should be the favourites. That’s how good the roster is.

Speaking of which…

Team Canada Basketball Roster

It begins and ends with Toronto native Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard and shooting guard was in the MVP conversation this past season in the NBA. He’s only gotten better and better the past couple years and as such is the number one option on the men’s national squad.

But rather than bear the brunt of responsibilities, he is joined by a terrific group of players who are bring something to the table. OKC running mate Luguentz Dort is a defensive beast, Toronto Raptor RJ Barrett has developed into an offensice threat, Jamal Murray was instrumental in the Denver Nuggets’ 2023 championship run, Kelly Olynyk (Toronto Raptors) is the talented, elder statesman, Andrew Nembhard had a breakout postseason run with the Indiana Pacers, and Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets), love him or hate him, plays with passion and becomes a scoring threat when he represents the maple leaf.

Even the guys who might start on the bench have proven worthy of getting attention in the NBA, like Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Minnesota Timberwolves), and Trey Lyles (Sacramento Kings).

There are no two ways about it:  this is a very strong roster that can do significant damage at the Paris Games.

They don’t have a LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, or Giannis Antetokounmpo. They are a good team, and that’s what can make all the difference.

Team Canada Paris Basketball Schedule

The journey begins this Saturday, July 27th versus Greece. We just mentioned Giannis and the Canadians will get a taste of him from the outset. The Greek Freak is one of the best players of his generation, probably one of the best players of all time, but other than him the Greeks don’t have that much to offer. At least, not compared to Canada. The latter are vastly more well-rounded. If they play up to their standards, Canada should start the tournament with a win.

After that comes Australia on Tuesday, July 30th. This might be a bigger test. Not everyone on the Boomers has significant NBA experience, but they feature a balanced team.

Canada concludes its group stage adventure against Spain on Friday, August 2nd. The best-case scenario is that Canada has already qualified for the quarterfinals with two wins under their belt. Worst case they need to win this game, but Spain, at least on paper, is not up to par compared to Canada.

Team Canada Wins an Olympic Medal

Considering the roster’s relative strength, that is the objective, is it not?

The odds are fascinating in that respect. “Yes” is priced at -133. “No” is priced at -105. No other team in the tournament has odds that suggest it could go either way so easily.

Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembenyama make it so that a “No” for France is +120. Does France really have a better team or do the oddsmakers believe Gobert and Wemby will carry the workload to medal glory? In case anyone missed it, France was one of the teams Canada defeated during their Olympic tune-up matches. Just saying.

These 2024 Paris Games feel like a precious moment in Canadian basketball history. If supporters are brutally honest with themselves, coming home empty-handed, including a bronze medal, would be disappointing. A silver would be wonderful even if it means being handed an inevitable basketball lesson by the Americans. Bronze would still be honourable. Anything less and Paris 2024 might feel like a wasted opportunity.