Which peg should be eliminated? You make the call

How do you fit four pegs into three holes?
Eliminating one obviously seems to be the best route.
But which one?
That’s a question that will be answered before the end of the month by USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo, who ultimately is responsible for selecting the 12-man roster for the American entry at the upcoming Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
The holes: Three point guards.
The pegs: Jason Kidd of Dallas, Chauncey Billups of Detroit, Chris Paul of New Orleans and the Jazz’s own Deron Williams.
Kidd started nine of 10 games for Team USA in last year, is a veteran of five USA Basketball teams and won Olympic gold in 2000. He has never lost in international play, and Colangelo suggested during NBA All-Star Weekend in February at New Orleans that Kidd is expected to be an integral part of this year’s Olympic team. But he is aging at 35, and his skills ‘ as evidenced by his play in the ongoing NBA postseason ‘ arguably are on the decline.
Billups averaged 16 minutes per game in international play last year, and started the one game Kidd did not in 2007. He earned NBA Finals MVP honors after leading Detroit to an NBA championship in 2004. But he was hampered by a hamstring injury during the current NBA playoffs, which for the Pistons ended with last Friday’s Eastern Conference finals Game 6 to the Boston Celtics ‘ and was punctuated by today’s firing of head coach Flip Saunders. The hamstring reportedly is doing better already, though, and Billups has suggested he does not think it will hamper him at a Team USA mini-camp later this month in Las Vegas ‘ the program’s final activity before its roster is named.
Paul averaged a team-high 4.9 assists when Team USA won bronze at the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Japan, and started six of nine international games that year. He was a first-time NBA All-Star in the 2007-08 season, and led the Hornets to the playoffs. The 2006 NBA Rookie of the Year seems to be a certain part of USA Basketball’s future, but Colangelo suggested in February that his place on this year’s national team is not guaranteed. An injury kept him from playing internationally last year. He’s built not nearly as solidly as the bigger Williams, but, much like Williams, he has a high-octane game.
Williams averaged 14.3 minutes over 10 games in international play last year, and averaged 4.6 assists as Team USA won FIBA’s Zone of the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament in Las Vegas. Co-MVP of the 2003 Global Games, he was selected one pick ahead of Paul ‘ at No. 3 overall ‘ in the 2005 NBA Draft. He has big-game college experience, having taken the runner-up University of Illinois to the 2005 NCAA Final Four, and has taken the two through five rounds of NBA playoff play over the past two years. But he still hasn’t reached NBA All-Star status, and Paul’s accomplishments often seem to overshadow those of the Jazz guard.
So which peg should be eliminated, knowing Team USA has room for no more than three points?
You make the call.