When the Goodman League competes against the Indy Pro-Am on Sept. 24,  Celtics draft pick JaJuan Johnson will reportedly suit up for the Indy Pro-Am squad. He will compete against Jeff Green, who could potentially be Johnson’s teammate whenever the NBA returns.

John Wall, Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley and DeMarcus Cousins have all committed to join Green in representation of the Goodman League, according to separate reports by Mike Wells and Michael Lee. Johnson’s Indy Pro-Am team will reportedly also include Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Eric Gordon, George Hill, Lance Stephenson and Gordon Hayward.

Note: I am about to ramble about Gordon Hayward for a short period of time, just because his name triggered some great NBA League Pass memories. Bear with me.

On April 5, 2011, Hayward put on one of last season’s least-expected shows, metaphorically staring Kobe Bryant straight in the eyes until Kobe blinked.

Two nights before, Hayward had established a career high of 19 points against the Sacramento Kings, but nothing about his bland rookie season signaled that Hayward was ready to build on the career night, especially not against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Jazz had played the Lakers earlier in the week and Hayward was both inefficient and  unproductive. He finished the game with 7 points on 3-9 shooting, playing 29 minutes and barely putting his fingerprints on the game. The Jazz lost after leading by 17 points and Hayward scored only two points in the second half, an alley-oop from Earl Watson after the game was already out of reach.

The Lakers were on a typical tear, winning 17 of their past 19 games, and the Jazz were somewhere between listless and helpless, losers of eight straight, a franchise in shambles after Jerry Sloan’s retirement and Deron Williams’s trade, a franchise watching idly as the memories of two great decades burned slowly to the ground. Al Jefferson was acquired in the offseason, but he and Paul Millsap did not mesh in the front-court. Derrick Favors came to Utah as part of the Williams trade, and he could provide occasional entertainment with a fierce dunk or a high-flying block, but his prime was years away at best. Tyrone Corbin tried to fill Sloan’s enormous shoes, but Utah’s talent was lower than it had been in years and Corbin, well, Corbin was not Sloan. Meanwhile, the Jazz’s lottery draft choice, the league’s next white hope, Gordon Hayward blended into the background, struggling to deal with the strength and quickness of his NBA opponents.

Kobe Bryant is not normally the right prescription for a rookie struggling to find his NBA calling. But the second time Hayward played Kobe that week, he transformed into something different, something better, the player Utah hoped he would be, a player his parents and friends could be proud of, a player who dueled against Kobe Bryant and scored 22 points, including 10 in the final quarter, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 5 assists, drilled the game-winning free throw, forced Bryant into a turnover on the game’s final possession, and walked off the court with at least one new fan.

“I’m very, very fond of him. He’s a very-skilled, all-around player,” said Kobe Bryant. “I think he’s going to have a very bright future in this league. He reminds me of a more talented Jeff Hornacek. Jeff couldn’t put the ball on the floor as well as (Hayward) can.”

Less than two weeks later, the Jazz ended their season by beating the Denver Nuggers. Hayward pumped in 34 points.

“Look out! We’re going the other way.”

“Oh, me oh my!”

There’s only one obvious explanation for these two dunks: Blake Griffin is contagious.

For what it’s worth, here are my rankings (in descending order) of the Team USA players I’d most want on my team if I were an NBA GM. This list includes the withdrawn Rajon Rondo and is based on how these players perform in the NBA, rather than how their games translate to international basketball.
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All smiles, son.

I’m hoping this quote will bring all “Rondo may not make Team USA!” talks to a quiet death. (Boston Globe)

“He’s unconventionally become an NBA champion and a triple-double guy in this league,’’ Krzyzewski said of Rondo. “The thing that Rondo does is he plays with a will to win, and he just finds ways to have a positive impact on the game. You know, I really like that about him. I thought I developed a really good relationship with him during the week, and his pressure on the ball, defense. But his will to win is something that I truly admire, and we need that.

“Plus, he’s a little bit older — not in age as much — but with experience, because the Celtics have gone so deep and have won one of the recent NBA championships. So, I think we’re very fortunate to have him.’’

Chris Sheridan called Rondo a lock, but also took the time to give him a nice little backhanded compliment. (TrueHoop)

Eric Gordon/Stephen Curry is another obvious bubble situation, with four of the five guard spots seemingly locked up by Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo (Note to Rondo skeptics: For all his faults, he rebounds better than any guard in the NBA — something that’ll obviously be needed in Turkey.)

Can we please stop talking about all Rondo’s faults? Can we please not talk about his rebounding like it’s the only thing keeping him on the roster? Rondo is a winner, first, foremost and always. Put him in an NBA competition and he’s better than any of those other guards listed. Every single one. He just finished an NBA postseason in which he was arguably the MVP of the entire playoffs. And now we can’t talk about anything but his faults, just because he’s playing in a FIBA competition where the rules are a bit different?

Child please. Outside of Deron Williams, Chris Paul and maybe Steve Nash, Rondo’s the best point guard in the league. Who else would you take instead of him? Rose? Sorry, get out of the first round before we talk about that. Parker? Maybe a few years ago, before he fell off. Billups? Give me Rondo any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Mr. Big Shot might as well be called Mr. “I’m Only 41% likely to hit my next” Shot.

And just because jump shooting isn’t his strong suit doesn’t mean Rondo won’t make an impact on Team USA. He’ll find open shooters. He’ll push the ball at breakneck speed. He’ll force turnover after turnover. He’ll penetrate the defense and show an uncanny ability to find an open man at the perfect time. Just because he’s playing foreigners with a weird-shaped lane doesn’t mean Rondo suddenly lost the ability to play basketball. Want to hear the story of another speed demon who has a suspect jumper but lives with a hunger for dimes and steals? His name’s Ricky Rubio, and he’s done pretty well for himself overseas.

So get off Rondo’s jock for a little while and enjoy. He’ll be in Turkey with Team USA and he’ll make an impact on the team. Rondo isn’t the best shooter in the world, but he never has been. And he always seems to find ways to adapt and make himself a threat. I don’t see why it will be any different just because he’s wearing Red, White and Blue.