SAN ANTONIO (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019) - When the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 is staged in China, it's reasonable to assume that in the 32-team field Australia will have one of the most talented rosters.

There is the very important matter of qualifying for the event, something the Boomers will have to do when FIBA's Competition System 2017+ gets underway in November.

Over a four-year cycle from 2017 through 2021, national teams will play regular home and away games to qualify for the World Cup and the FIBA Continental Cups 2021.

But just imagine the possibilities for Australia if they make it. A team that finished fourth last year at the Rio de Janeiro Games is likely to be bolstered by the terrific trio of Dante Exum, Thon Maker and Ben Simmons.

All three are with NBA clubs and are huge talents.

NBA great Kevin Garnett said a couple of weeks ago that 20-year-old Milwaukee Bucks rookie Maker has a "chance to be special".

"We have high expectations," Australia's three-time Olympian Pat Mills said to FIBA.com. "Seeing those young guys coming up is great for us and for Australian basketball.

"All the work they have done is paying off and they are the future of basketball in our country. To have us all on the same page and to have everyone play for Australia is obviously huge, and I think that we are going in the right direction."

The Boomers were already among the top sides last year at the Olympics in Brazil where they fell to Spain in the Bronze Medal Game by just a single point. It was their best performance at a Summer Games since 2000 when the event was staged in Sydney.

"The national team has improved, every player has been improving, too, and we want to be an international powerhouse," Mills said. "That is how we see ourselves. We will keep working hard to make things work and achieve great things for basketball and Australia’s national team."

Mills says that Australia have not just improved in one or two areas. He firmly believes that over the past several years the Boomers are much better in all aspects of the game.

"The chemistry and the unity in the group of players is so great and we always want to give the best of ourselves and play for our teammates," he said. "Also, the group has a lot of players that have a lot of experience, such as Andrew Bogut and Joe Ingles, for example, and that helps the team competitiveness and shows to the youngest guys how is it to play and compete at the highest level."

There are plenty of positive examples, now, for boys in Australia to follow in the sport. The team that just missed out on a medal in Rio included four NBA champions in Mills and Aron Baynes, winners with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014; Bogut, who helped the Golden State Warriors the next year; and Matthew Dellavedova, a history-maker as the Cleveland Cavaliers won a first-ever NBA crown in 2016.

"Having that many players in the NBA, some others playing in the best European teams, and having a national league that keeps getting better every year helps basketball in Australia grow very fast," Mills said.

"A lot of kids get inspired by the basketball players and want to do the same," Mills said, "so that brings more talent to this game and more potential players for the national team in the future.

"Our sport is developing very fast and the future is bright for Australian basketball."

FIBA