The NBA superstar hasn't confirmed if he'll play for Australia in Tokyo, although the appointment of his Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown as Boomers coach for the Games is expected to smooth over any concerns.

"I think Ben's always said he wanted to be available for Tokyo. I don't think there's any doubt there," BA head of performance Jan Stirling told AAP.

"I haven't heard anything contrary to that. That would be for him to determine."

Simmons, the 2017-18 NBA rookie of the year, has had a complex relationship with Australian basketball.

The point guard didn't play at the Rio Olympics in 2016 but declared he would play in this year's World Cup before later withdrawing from the Boomers squad a month out from the tournament in China.

Australia currently has 10 players including Simmons plying their trade in the NBA.

Despite the difficulties that makes in terms of availability for national team duties, Stirling said it remained a goal of Basketball Australia to get even more Boomers playing in the world's premier league.

"Australia should be proud that we get so many players to go to that league," she said.

"We'd like to put Canada off the mantle of having the most NBA players. We're pretty close to them."

Australian Associated Press