Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown is reportedly set to coach the Australian men's basketball team at next year's Olympics.
In a major change for the Boomers, reflecting the desire and urgency for the team to win their first Olympic medal, Brown would replace Andrej Lemanis as coach.
Quoting NBA sources, ESPN reports "Australia is finalising an agreement" with Brown.
Brown coaches Australia's best player and NBA All-Star Ben Simmons, and rising star Jonah Bolden at the 76ers.
Simmons and Bolden both controversially dropped out of the Lemanis-coached Boomers' recent World Cup campaign, where they once again finished without a medal.
Lemanis, coach of the NBL's Brisbane Bullets, has been Boomers coach since 2013, and despite squads featuring NBA players Patty Mills, Joe Ingles, Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova, failed to lead the squad past fourth place at two World Cups and an Olympics.
American Brown began his coaching career in the New Zealand NBL, before crossing the Tasman to serve as assistant to legendary coach Lindsay Gaze at Melbourne Tigers and then guide North Melbourne Giants to the 1994 Australian NBL crown.
In 2002, he returned to the United States, where he assisted Gregg Popovich at the San Antonio Spurs, before taking the 76ers head-coaching position in 2013, and overseeing 'The Process' that turned an underperforming team into an NBA power.
Brown coached the Boomers at the London Olympics, before stepping away to concentrate on his NBA career.
Simmons, who recently signed a five-year $US169.6 million ($A249.4 million) contract extension with the 76ers, has had a rocky relationship with Lemanis.
In 2014, Lemanis decided not to include 18-year-old Simmons in the Boomers' 2014 World Cup team, telling reporters "he wasn't ready yet".
Simmons tweeted he was "really disappointed" to be cut from the squad.
Simmons has since repeatedly skipped Australian squad duties, including the 2016 Rio Olympics and this year's World Cup.
Bolden surprisingly quit the Boomers World Cup squad just days before departing for China and after playing exhibition games in Australia.
Lemanis also cut Australians with NBA experience - Deng Adel and Mitch Creek - from this year's World Cup squad.
Creek was later recalled, when Xavier Cooks suffered a meniscus tear.
Brown has a strong connection to the Australian NBL, but also has experience coaching and managing NBA players.
AAP
