Team USA confirms promotion for White

Guard is among 17 finalists for spot on World Cup roster

As expected, Spurs guard Derrick White is a finalist for a Team USA roster spot after excelling at practice last week in Las Vegas.

USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo announced the promotions of White and Kings forward Marvin Bagley III from the Select Team after the senior team beat the junior squad that included the two youngsters 97-78 in an exhibition game Friday.

The Team USA roster now stands at 17 players after Colangelo also announced that Bulls forward Thaddeus Young and Heat center Bam Adebayo had been cut.

Last week, Colangelo announced promotions for two other practice squad members, Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox and Nets forward Joe Harris.

Team USA will continue its preparations for the FIBA World Cup, set for Aug. 31-Sept. 15 in China, this week in Los Angeles. The official 12-man Team USA roster will be announced Saturday.

“We’re bringing a couple of

young players from the Select Team, so we’re going to be patient with the rest of the squad because we have plenty of time … to decide who will be the final 12,” Colangelo said. “There’s some things we like about every one of the players, but how do we come to 12? We don’t have to make the decision now, and we want to give everyone a real shot.”

White had 12 points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals in Friday’s exhibition but made just 4 of 13 shots from the field and committed seven turnovers in a game-high 24 minutes.

“It’s the beginning, a new tournament, another World Cup, and our guys are making progress,’’ said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who is coaching Team USA at the World Cup and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. “They haven’t played together before. We’re still in those early stages of trying to get together, figure out how we want to play, and learn about each other.”

White