Williams is seen as mired in a four-man race for likely three point-guard spots, along with Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks and Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons.

Paul had an MVP-like season for the Hornets, with Williams not far behind, particularly with his impressive postseason showing. Kidd is said by some to be a lock again for '08 since he provides veteran savvy and a strong past in international competition. Billups' chances are enhanced by his versatility, able to switch between the two guard positions.

"I hope I make the team," Williams said. "I would love to be on that team. It would be a great honor — to have a chance to win the gold medal and represent my country."

USA Basketball will pare down its Select Team roster to 15-18 players for a three-day mini-camp in late June, with the final Olympic roster — 12 players and three alternates — due at the end of the month.

The team will reconvene in Las Vegas in late July for a weeklong training camp and will likely play several exhibitions before beginning pool competition in Beijing. Kirilenko, who played for Russia at the 2000 Sydney Games as a skinny, 19-year-old Jazz draftee, said his national team will gather in early July and hinted that the United States and Russia may square off in a pre-Olympic exhibition.

He didn't think a summer of extensive Olympic preparation and competition would result in extended wear and tear — physically and mentally — for the Jazz threesome going into the 2008-09 NBA season.

"It helps you because before the training camp, you come in game shape and already in rhythm," he said.Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said that while injuries are an initial concern when players opt for extended play, he's never asked a player to forgo an Olympic opportunity.

"You never tell anybody, 'I don't want you to play in the Olympics.' That's crazy — you would never do that to anybody. It's their lifetime dream," said Sloan, a USA assistant coach at the '96 Atlanta Games, who himself earned an U.S. Olympic team tryout as a player in the mid-1960s.

"That was my lifetime dream," he added. "I got to try out for it, but I wasn't good enough — reality set in."

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