Mills was leading scorer at last year's London Olympics, eclipsing the likes of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, and will lead the Australian charge in the Oceania world championship qualifying series against New Zealand in August.

Mills is one of three Australians in the NBA western conference semi-final series between his San Antonio Spurs and Andrew Bogut's Golden State Warriors.

Lemanis will speak with Bogut about his availability for the national team once the series is complete, while Spurs big man Aron Baynes could also be back.

Point guard Mills has already confirmed his attendance to take on the Kiwis and will play a leading role after the retirement of long-term skipper Matt Nielsen.

''I've had a chat to Pat about this international season and he's excited when he comes in late-July to join the group,'' Lemanis said.

''He wants to take on more of a leadership role now that Matty Nielsen not being there.

''Given his experience, he's excited about helping the team going forward.''

Mills has had limited playing time with the Spurs in the same series where Bogut has stamped his mark.

After two injury-plagued seasons, the former No.1 draft pick is earning plaudits for his strong defensive play.

The 213cm centre is showing why many rate him the missing piece of the puzzle if the Boomers are going to claim that elusive Olympic Games medal.

''My discussions with Bogut is we'll meet up after the play-off series with Golden State when he comes back to Australia,'' Lemanis said. ''Always love him to play, so we'll work through his circumstances and work with him.''

A largely home-based Boomers squad, including Canberra products Anthony Petrie and Jesse Wagstaff, was on Saturday named for next month's Sino-Australia challenge against China.

It will be the first chance Lemanis has to put his stamp on the Boomers after taking over the top job last month fresh from his third straight NBL championship with the New Zealand Breakers.

Lemanis looked at recruiting Petrie to the Breakers when the Gold Coast Blaze went bust, but Petrie proved a valuable addition for the Adelaide 36ers.

''With the retirement of Matthew Nielsen, there's a bit of a void that needs to be filled in that four spot,'' Lemanis said. ''He's one of those guys who plays hard and are versatile in that position, and give you defensive flexibility.''

Lemanis will move to Canberra later this month as coach of the Australian team, but also in a high-performance role at the AIS.

The 17-man Boomers squad will have a five-day camp in Perth on June 2 before being cut to 12 players for the series with China.