NBA championship-winner Matthew Dellavedova and his Milwaukee Bucks teammate Thon Maker will headline the Australian Boomers squad for the next round of FIBA World Cup qualifiers.
With their NBA commitments over for the season, the duo have put up their hand for national duty when the Boomers take on Japan in Japan on June 29 and the Philippines in the Philippines on July 2 in a 50,000-seat stadium.
Dellavedova — who won an NBA ring with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 and then signed a four-year $A50 million deal with the Bucks — last played for the Boomers at the Rio Olympics while Maker will be on debut.
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Dellavedova and Maker making themselves available will be an entree to the tantalising main course of Australia’s full contingent of NBA players wearing green and gold in next year’s World Cup and the Tokyo Olympics.
Camera Icon Matthew Dellavedova in action in Rio. Picture: News Corp Australia, Alex Coppel.
Camera Icon Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis has some big guns back. Pic: Michael Klein Picture: News Corp Australia
They will join the rest of the squad — that includes eight members of the team that won gold at the Commonwealth Games — for a four-day camp in Melbourne on June 21 before heading to Japan.
Queenslander Mitch McCarron rejoins the Boomers fold after missing the Commonwealth Games for a trophy-winning stint in Slovenia.
Australia have already earned a spot in the second round of qualifiers after easily winning their first four games but with points carrying over into the second round, there is still plenty of motivation for the Boomers to maintain their dominance in Asia.
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis said welcoming Dellavedova and Maker into the squad was exciting on a number of fronts.
“Firstly, to have players of their calibre is fantastic,” he said.
“Obviously Delly’s experience with the Boomers program will enable him to provide some great guidance and leadership to the group.
“Thon is an exciting story. He has always expressed his desire to play for Australia and it was one of his big goals.
“For it to come to fruition is wonderful for him but it also makes him a great role model for the Sudanese community that now call Australia home. To have Thon representing Australia in basketball is inspiring for them.’’
Camera Icon Thon Maker thrilled at both ends of the court in the NBA. Pic: Getty Images/AFP Picture: AFP
The 216cm-tall Maker, 21, was drafted with pick no. 10 by Milwaukee in the 2016 NBA draft and just finished his second season in the world’s best league where he thrived in the play-offs.
Maker left war-torn South Sudan when he was five-years-old and arrived in Perth with his brother and aunty as a refugee.
Lemanis said Australia’s remaining NBA players were having a well-earned rest after a hectic season where the likes of Ben Simmons, Joe Ingles, Dante Exum and Aron Baynes saw plenty of playoff action.
“This window of games was never a requirement for them. They could make themselves available if they wanted to,’’ he said.
“The thing for us now is to understand our guys not only play in the NBA but they play significant minutes in the NBA. They are not sitting at the end of the bench so there is a wear-and-tear factor.
“We want them to take some down time if they need it because the next two years there’s a World Cup and an Olympics so there’s no down time then.’’
The full Boomers squad for the third window of FIBA World Cup qualifying is:
Angus Brandt, Jason Cadee, Matthew Dellavedova, Cam Gliddon, Chris Goulding, Nick Kay, Daniel Kickert, Kevin Lisch, Mitch McCarron, Thon Maker, Nathan Sobey, Jesse Wagstaff.
Camera Icon Thon Maker #7 and Matthew Dellavedova #8 guard Detroit’s Ish Smith. Pic: Getty Images/AFP Picture: AFP
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