Deandre Ayton works on his game as Bahamas preps for Cuba

The NBA season may be more than two months from tip-off but Deandre Ayton and Eric Gordon will be playing in games with international significance this week.

Ayton and Gordon are both members of the Bahamas national team which is participating in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament 2023 Argentina, to be played in the cities of Santiago del Estero and La Banda. The seven-national team tournament is August 14-20 and will determine a single berth to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments next summer.

Ayton was born in the Bahamas and Gordon’s mother, Denise Gordon, was born there.

According to FIBA, the Bahamas are ranked No. 1 heading into the tournament among the participating teams, thanks to Ayton, Gordon and fellow NBAers Buddy Hield and Kai Jones.

On Monday, the Bahamas will face Cuba at approximately 2 p.m. Arizona time.

If posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, are to be believed, Ayton is putting in some serious work.

@DeandreAyton en acción 💥💥en el Vicente Rosales pic.twitter.com/f77velJ6ED

— Ciclista Olímpico La Banda (@OlimpicoLB) August 12, 2023

If the team from the Bahamas makes the Olympic qualifier by winning this tournament, The Tribune in Nassau is reporting Klay Thompson will be approached about joining the team.

Thompson’s father, former NBAer Mychal Thompson is originally from Nassau.

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