Gaze endorses next-gen Boomers pair
Andrew Gaze has urged the Boomers to blood two of Australian basketball's rising stars as Ben Simmons' Olympics status remains clouded.
Brian Goorjian's squad began a pre-selection camp in Los Angeles this weekend without Ryan Broekhoff (mental health) and Isaac Humphries (knee) after the pair announced their withdrawals on Friday.
Simmons is yet to confirm if he will join the side after his limp NBA playoffs exit with the Philadelphia 76ers was followed by reports he would skip the Games.
Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Aron Baynes and a fit-again Dante Exum are all committed though, ensuring plenty of NBA pedigree as they chase a maiden Games medal.
Five-time Olympian Gaze is urging Goorjian to throw Josh Green and Josh Giddey in that mix, citing the condensed six-game path to Games gold as the perfect environment to do so.
"Your requirements are different to normal; you'll want guys that are capable of playing and should be playing, but aren't going to play much," he told AAP.
"Some aren't going to be comfortable with (warming the bench) and it presents challenges to the chemistry of the group," he said.
"That's not an indictment on them, just the nature of it and that's where guys like Green and Giddey fit perfectly."
Giddey, 18, won rookie of the year after a brilliant NBL campaign and is tipped to go high in the next NBA draft after fellow guard Green, 20, was the 18th pick for Dallas this year.
A host of more experienced squad members boast claims for a berth but Gaze can see an opportunity in what will likely be the last Olympic campaigns for Baynes, Ingles, Dellavedova and Mills.
Two-time NBA All-Star Simmons, 24, has not played for the Boomers since he was overlooked for the 2014 World Cup as an 18-year-old.
"You never gift a jersey, but you need to be realistic about the future and find a way to perpetuate that," Gaze said.
"One of the Boomers' keys is the culture and that needs to be passed on to the next generation."
The squad will be cut to 15 - a 12-man squad plus three emergencies - before their final Las Vegas camp early next month that features exhibition games against the United States, Argentina and Nigeria.
