Jonah Bolden has been dubbed the potential "sleeper" of the NBA Draft while Australia's other great hope, 19-year-old giant Isaac Humphries, has also received an eleventh hour boost.
Sudanese-born, Melbourne-raised big man Mangok Mathiang is also hoping to fulfill a dream of making the NBA after five years at college basketball powerhouse, the University of Louisville.
The draft (Friday 9am AEST) will be held at Brooklyn's Barclay Center with 60 players selected over two rounds.
Bolden, the 21-year-old Melbourne-born son of NBL great Bruce Bolden, is expected to be picked in the late first or early second round with draft analysts intrigued by the power forward's athleticism and 208cm-tall frame that is perfect for the modern NBA game.
The New York Times pointed to Bolden being the next potential Draymond Green, a power forward selected in the second round of the 2012 draft by the Golden State Warriors with little fanfare but went on to become an All-Star and key piece of the Warriors' two NBA titles.
"He grew up in Australia, spent some time at American prep schools and had a brief cameo at UCLA, then turned up playing professionally in Serbia, where he was the Adriatic League young player of the year," the Times told its readers.
"Bolden's peripatetic career has kept him under the radar.
"And in a draft loaded with smaller players, he's 6-10."
The 213cm Sydney-raised Humphries spent two years at the University of Kentucky and is pencilled in as a potential late second round pick or may go undrafted and be picked up in the hours after the draft.
Humphries had 14 workout requests from NBA teams, but settled on 11 visits including the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers.
"He just turned 19 so hasn't even begun to scratch the surface," his agent Daniel Moldovan told AAP.
"Big men reach their peak later as is, but the fact that he is so young it is going to be scary when that kid hits his peak."
Humphries was the surprise name that came out of a new ESPN report using analytics to attempt to predict each draftee's NBA future.
The Sydneysider was found to have a 13 per cent chance of being an NBA starter and 28 per cent as an NBA role player - better than many of the projected first and second round players.
The 76ers are expected to use their No.1 pick on University of Washington point guard Markelle Fultz, a move that will pair him with last year's top selection, Australia's Ben Simmons.
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