Casademont Zaragoza will not be able to count on its new leader of the locker room at the start of this preseason because Trae Bell-Haynes has been called up with Canada for this FIBA window. Although he was within the concentration of the North American team, his participation was not certain, but the Canadians have made it official that the point guard is among the 15 who will play in these qualifiers.
The Canadian team will play two matches in this window against Panama, on August 28, and against Nico Brussino’s Argentina, on September 1. Bell-Haynes is one of the regulars in the call-ups, but in this window as NBA players are available, his participation was not entirely certain.
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Despite everything, the big surprise has been that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, current NBA MVP, is not among the call-ups and it is foreseeable that Bell-Haynes will play a lot of minutes as the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard is not there.
The Canadians come into this second qualifying round with an unblemished record, having won all their previous matches. Their record is six wins and zero losses and they are the first classified in Group F and will compete for that first place with Uruguay and Argentina.
