What if NBA stars played Olympic 3-on-3 basketball?

There's a new sport coming to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo: 3-on-3 basketball.

After confirming itsaddition to the program on Friday, Olympicofficialsare hoping this version of the gameresults in better competition than the last few U.S.-dominated tournaments.

• 3-on-3 basketball added to Tokyo Olympics

The 3-on-3 games will be played on a half-courtin an attempt to make them more akin to street ball except rules won't be self-enforced and, no,there won't be chain nets.

If the IOC uses rules similar to those inFIBA's3x3 tournament, the winner will be the first team to reach21 points, or whoever is leading after 10 minutes. They'll count by ones and twos, meaning long-distance shooting will likely beprioritized(and StephCurry could probably win the tournament on his own).

Unlike the five-on-five Olympic tournament, it's doubtfulthat NBA stars will want, or be allowed, to participate. In fact, the IOC may want to use this event as more of an amateur showcase.

But that can't stop us from wondering what a dream 3-on-3 Olympic tournament withNBA players might look like. Here's a look at who the eight 2016 qualifiers, plus Canada and Greece, shouldput on their rosters.

United States

Curry, KevinDurant,KawhiLeonard.

Despite his unique skills, LeBronJames doesn't hit threes well enough to make this team. James Harden and RussellWestbrookare good scorers, but also too ball-dominant for a team that already has Curry andDurant. Thus, Leonard gets on he's the best perimeter defender in the NBA, he hits 39 per cent of his long-distance shots, and he's comfortableplaying off the ball. The U.S. talent pool is so deep that the10th-best Americanteam is probably still the gold-medal favourite in this tournament.

Australia

Patty Mills, MatthewDellavedova, Joe Ingles.

AndrewBogutis the toughest cut here, though he remains sidelined with a knee injury.KyrieIrving holds Australian citizenship, but he plays for the U.S. Maybe he can be convinced to switch allegiances for three-on-three. If he can't, the two-point-guard look combined withthe smooth-shooting Ingles could make some noise for Australia, which finished fourth in Rio.

Lithuania

JonasValanciunas,DomantasSabonis, MantasKalnietis.

KnicksforwardMindaugusKuzminskasgets left off in favour of national-team veteran point guardKalnietis. Lithuania looks slow, but may be able to rely onValanciunas'sscoring at the rimalong withSabonis's passing andKalnietisas the floor general.

Croatia

DarioSaric,BojanBogdanovic, Ivica Zubac.

Sixers rookieSaricwouldbe the nominal point guard here, withBogdanovichanging out behind the arc and Zubac, a Lakers first-round pick last year, cleaning up the glass. Croatia has sneaky potential.

Serbia

Nikola Jokic, Boban Marjanovic, Milos Teodosic.

Serbia is my favourite to challenge the U.S. They won silver in Rio, and bring with them the NBA's best passing big in Jokic, a 7-foot-3monster in Boban, and the player voted by NBA coaches as the most talented outside the NBA inTeodosic. This team would have a chance to exact revenge against the U.S. for the title-gameloss in 2016.

Spain

Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Ricky Rubio.

The Spaniards have talent, but lack athleticism. Gasol wouldbe the centre of the offence with a pass-but-can't-shoot guard in Rubioand a shoot-but-can't-pass forward in Ibaka. If Gasol can carry the offence, Spain's defence could be enough to keep them in every game.

France

Rudy Gobert, Nic Batum, Tony Parker.

This is an extremely solidteam. Gobert wouldbe a force without ever having to leave the rim, and Parker and Batum shouldbe able to run a pristine two-man game when they're not feeding Gobert, a.ka. the Stifle Tower. These are three smart players.

Argentina

Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Pablo Prigioni.

It's too bad thetournament didn't take place in 2004, because this team could have been really good. Instead, they have three guys on the wrong side of 35whose prime is well behind them. Ginobili is still fun, though, and Scola always impresses in international play.

Greece

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis Antetonkounmpo, Vasillis Spanoulis.

I added Greece to the field because they promise plenty of excitement. Giannis's wingspan will stretch the entirehalfcourt! He gets to play with his brother, Thanasis! And Spanoulis, the Greek league mainstay,can shoot! Mostly though, I just want to see the incomparable Giannisin this format.

Canada

Andrew Wiggins, Cory Joseph, Kelly Olynyk.

It's really tempting to put Brady Heslip some saythe best shooter not in the NBA on this team. But you have to think there's a reason for the "not in the NBA" part.Instead, Olynyk gets the nodover Tristan Thompson because of his ability to stretch the floor. Still, this is an offence that wouldrely on Wiggins, with Joseph hopefully maintaining his three-point form from this season and Olynyk annoying opponents.

So who wins?

The U.S., and it's not close.The better question is who else lands on the podium.

So who else lands on the podium?

Canada, Serbia, France and Spain likely round out the top five, in some order. Serbia actually won the most recent FIBA 3x3 tournament, albeit with different players, but here they fall to second place, with Jokic named the tournament's most outstanding player.

In the bronze-medal match between Canada and France, Gobertdominatesin the post, while Batum shuts down Wigginsand Joseph fails to best his former mentor, Parker.

Gold: U.S.

Silver: Serbia

Bronze: France