The Puerto Rican Basketball Federation finally gave its fans some hope by including Renaldo Balkman in the national team's final roster for the FIBA Basketball World Cup in China, hoping that the 35-year-old veteran can help the team make a difference.

The list goes as follows:

Renaldo Balkman (forward), Ramon Clemente (forward), David Huertas (guard), Christopher Brady (center), Devon Collier (forward), Javier Mojica (guard), Gary Browne (guard), Jorge Bryan Diaz (center), Isaiah Pineiro (forward), Gian Clavell (guard), Alexander Franklin (guard), Angel Rodriguez (guard)

With J.J. Barea of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks missing the World Cup due to injury, Puerto Rico will rely on Balkman. He was selected by the New York Knicks with the 20th pick of the 2006 NBA Draft and played six seasons in the league, with the Knicks and the Denver Nuggets respectively.

Clavell and Pineiro will be Balkman's main sources of help on the team. The former played for multiple NBA teams in the Summer League in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The latter signed with the Sacramento Kings this summer.

Puerto Rico's back-court pair of Ivan Gandia and Emmanuel Andujar missed the final list. "It was not an easy day for me and it was an extremely difficult decision because it was strictly looking for the best we have in the team," said head coach Eddie Casiano.

Puerto Rico are in Group C with Spain, Iran and Tunisia. Though none of the other three teams stand any chance against Spain, they don't hold a big advantage over each other either, which means all three are hopeful of making it out of the group as No. 2.

Puerto Rico will meet their first opponent Iran at the Guangzhou Gymnasium on August 31.