Griffin and Canberra Capitals teammate Keely Froling were picked in the Olympic qualifying tournament in India next month.

Froling has been a regular on the three-on-three circuit for the past year, but Griffin's initial Tokyo hopes were with the Australian Opals.

The rule limiting teams to one naturalised player has kept Griffin out of the Opals campaign, with coach Sandy Brondello opting for Leilani Mitchell instead.

But three-on-three has opened up another avenue as the sport prepares to makes its Olympic debut later this year.

Griffin and Froling's first aim will be lifting the Capitals to back to back WNBL titles, starting with game two of their semi-final series against the Melbourne Boomers on Sunday.

Australia will play their opening match against Japan on March 18, less than a month after the WNBL grand final series.

They have been placed in group B with Iran, Japan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan.

A star in the three-on-three basketball arena, Rebecca Cole will have to shine even brighter if she is to secure Australia a start at the Tokyo Olympics.

The half-court game will make its Olympic debut in 2020, with the women's team Australia's only shot at three-on-three glory after the men's team failed to secure a start.

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They will head to India next month for the Olympic qualifying tournament with 19 teams set to compete for three available places at the Games.

Cole is the undisputed star of the Australian three-on-three scene, FIBA last month naming her one of the 'ten women who defined three-on-three in 2019'.

She was the tournament leading scorer at the 2019 FIBA World Cup - where Australia team finished fourth - and was the MVP at last year's Asia Cup, playing a key role in the team's gold medal triumph as she finished with 34 points in the tournament.

But Cole, who will head to India alongside Maddie Garrick, Keely Froling, Kelsey Griffin and Lauren Nicholson, will have to shoulder even more of the burden with the Australians weakened by the unavailability of Alice Kunek for next month's qualifiers.

Kunek has undergone elbow surgery after being injured in the final minute of a WNBL game on January 12.

Kunek was part of the victorious Asian Cup squad alongside Cole, Garrick and Froling.

"We're excited about the opportunity to make our way to Tokyo 2020 and the fact that players like Kelsey Griffin and Lauren Nicholson are showing interest in three-on-three," head coach Dave Biwer said.