Intrigue around Simmons with Boomers to face Canada before FIBA World Cup

Australia has had 13 players in the NBA this season with Sydney-raised centre Isaac Humphries making his debut for the Atlanta Hawks in Wednesday and that gives Lemanis plenty of selection headaches for his final roster of 12 as those US talents vie with NBL and European-based players to make the team.

But all eyes are on what Simmons will do as his representatives are expected to begin talks with the Philadelphia 76ers on a lucrative contract extension once the current season finishes in June.

If they move quickly and Simmons signs on, there is hope he will join the Boomers for their selection camp starting on August 2 in Melbourne.

Although the Sixers or Simmons could decide he needs to rest or spend the off-season working on his game which would rule him out.

Lemanis and assistant coach Luc Longley have continued to talk with his camp in hope that he will be able to play. They also maintain dialogue with all NBA clubs who have Australian players.

"The NBA clubs invest a lot of money in those guys so they are considered in their approach to what their players do in the off-season and that’s something that can interfere," Lemanis said.

"I won't pretend to completely understand the contractual situation but I think Ben is up for a max contract and how all that plays out can potentially have an impact as well."

Heading into the Rio Olympics the likes of Dellavedova and others sat out lead-up games as they finalised NBA deals and the Boomers could do the same thing this time to give Simmons or others more time to finalise deals.

"The hope is that with the World Cup not starting until August 31 that all those things will have time to play out," Lemanis said.

"The door is open and we are happy to help him walk through it whenever he is ready."

The Boomers haven't set a deadline for Simmons or other players and will give them as long as they can to commit to the camp.

Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles and Andrew Bogut have made it clear they will play unless injured while others will need to assess how playing would interfere with their NBA hopes for next season.

"We haven't set a hard and fast date [for Simmons] but it will be coming into that August 2 camp," Lemanis said on Wednesday.

"As with all the players we want to make and create and environment where they are all comfortable and in a position to succeed.

"We will work with all of our players in terms of creating that opportunity and giving them time to make their decisions."

Canada face similar challenges with 14 NBA players this season and a number of other stars in US college basketball or Europe.

Their headline NBA player is Andrew Wiggins but their biggest star is Duke University guard RJ Barrett who is tipped to be a top three pick in this year's NBA Draft.

Barrett's father, Rowan Barrett, was a long time star for Canada and was recently appointed general manager of the men's team meaning he will be the key person in convincing their NBA stars to play.

Jay Triano recently stepped away as team coach and new boss will be appointed soon. Canada hopes Wiggins will play while the likes of Jamal Murray, Kelly Olynyk, Cory Joseph, Khem Birch and Tristan Thompson have played in recent tournaments.

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