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Buck, Brock back for Boomers


NBA championship winner Matthew Dellavedova and his Rio Olympics Boomers teammate Brock Motum both have declared themselves available for Australia's June-July FIBA World Cup qualifying window.

The Boomers are away to Japan on June 29 and the Phillipines on July 2, having beaten both - 82-58 and 84-68 respectively - in earlier home games in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Dellavedova, 27 and a 193cm point or combo guard, endured an injury-ravaged NBA season at Milwaukee Bucks while Motum, 27 and a 208cm power forward, has been playing in Turkey with Anadolu Efes.

Declaring his intent to suit with the Boomers during the American summer, Dellavedova’s decision is a blessing for national coach Andrej Lemanis who is likely to lose a few of his usual NBL candidates to NBA Summer League commitments.

Adelaide 36ers MVP and FIBA Asia Cup Gold Medallist Mitch Creek is an obvious one of them.

“Delly playing? Yes, absolutely. We’ve been communicating on that,” Lemanis said today, Dellavedova’s Milwaukee Bucks eliminated 4-3 by Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs' first round.

“Particularly with his unfortunate run of injuries this season, Delly is looking to get some games in and we’re keen to have him.”

After missing 15 games earlier in the season with left knee soreness, Dellavedova (above) suffered a right ankle sprain, then an additional setback in his rehab which cost him a further 29 games on the sidelines.

Whether his Aussie teammate on the Bucks, Thon Maker, suits mid-year with the Boomers, remains a possibility.

Sudanese-born Maker, 21 and 216cm, apparently is keen to also don Australia's green-and-gold but needs the Bucks’ permission.

“The early indication is he is keen (to play) but it needs to be ticked off by the Bucks so we’ll just wait and see how that pans out,” Lemanis said.

Milwaukee may have other plans for Maker, who now has logged 143 games with 54 starts.

“Brock Motum has made himself available,” Lemanis said of the star forward who spent the 2014-15 NBL season starting with Adelaide 36ers and averaging 17.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game.

He subsequently played two years at Zalgiris Kaunas in Lithuania before spending 2017-18 at Anadolu Efes in Turkey (below).

Lemanis said he did not expect any other of Australia's NBA contingent or players based in Europe to be available for the matches in Japan and Philippines.

May 9

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