The heat could be on Patty Mills and Dante Exum following the surprise selection of American-born guard Kevin Lisch in an extended Australian men's basketball squad for the Rio Olympics.
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis on Monday named 26 players, including teen prodigy Ben Simmons and seven NBA stars, ahead of the team's one and only pre-Games camp in July.
Among the 13 NBL players chosen was the Illawarra Hawks' classy point guard Kevin Lisch, recently named the league's most valuable player.
His place is dependent on him getting Australian citizenship, which Lemanis is told isn't far off.
"From all the feedback ... we're confident it'll get done in time," he told AAP from the US.
With Exum yet to play a game for the Utah Jazz this NBA following a knee reconstruction and his availability unclear, Lisch could be a real contender for a spot at point guard.
He is the only name that hasn't spent any time in the Boomers' set-up, which Lemanis admitted made it hard to project where he might fit in.
But the competition he will bring excites the coach.
"He's obviously a really talented player and also a good guy," he said.
"It'll be fantastic to see at camp, see how it plays out.
"It would be another exciting development I think for Australian basketball.
"We're going to have some very good players miss out on the team this year; there's going to be some real tough conversations, but that's reflective of the talent that is now coming through for us to select from."
Lemanis' squad includes 12 players who competed in the Oceania Olympic qualifying series against New Zealand last year, headlined by Mills, Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova.
Fellow NBA players Exum, Cameron Bairstow, Aron Baynes and Joe Ingles are also in the mix.
Like Exum, the availability of Simmons - currently with Louisiana State University - remains up in the air, with the decision likely to fall to his new team following June's NBA draft.
"It's a waiting game and something we can't rush or control at this stage," said Lemanis.
The squad will be cut to 16 for the selection camp from July 5-10, once the Boomers' commitments in the NBA and Europe finish.
Lemanis said the final pick will come down to players' previous history with the Boomers, their current form, injuries, and team chemistry.
"The thing that excites me the most is that we've got a group that's spent some time together, has gone through some previous campaigns together," he added.
"It's a team we will have an opportunity to build over a number of years, which will hopefully put us in a better position than just trying to get together for the first time."
The Boomers are yet to win an Olympic medal, but many have deemed 2016 as their best chance.
Boomers squad: David Andersen (ASVEL, France), Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls), Aron Baynes (Detroit Pistons), Todd Blanchfield (Melbourne United), Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors), Angus Brandt (Sydney Kings), Ryan Broekhoff (Lokomotiv Kuban, Russia), Mitchell Creek (Adelaide 36ers), Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers), Dante Exum (Utah Jazz), Adam Gibson (Adelaide 36ers), Cameron Gliddon (Cairns Taipans), Chris Goulding (Melbourne United), Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz), Nathan Jawai (Perth Wildcats), Daniel Kickert (Melbourne United), Kevin Lisch (Illawarra Hawks), Aleks Maric (Buducnost Podgorica, Montenegro), Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats), Patrick Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Brock Motum (Zalgiris Kaunas, Lithuania), Brad Newley (Gran Canaria, Spain), Mitchell Norton (Townsville Crocodiles), Ben Simmons (LSU), Clint Steindl (Townsville Crocodiles), Lucas Walker (Adelaide 36ers).
