Bulls great Grant backs Aussie NBA clash

NBA great Horace Grant has backed Andrew Bogut's recent calls for Australia to host a regular season fixture.

Grant won three successive championships as the bespectacled member of the legendary Chicago Bulls side of the early 90s alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and now works as a global ambassador for the NBA.

He also won a fourth title with the LA Lakers in 2001 and believes Australia should be offered the chance to emulate London and Mexico City and host a game.

The 50-year-old said the distance and time difference between the US and Australia shouldn't be an issue and given the interest in the sport and the growing number of Aussies playing in the NBA it makes sense to take a game there.

"It's very important for the NBA to have global games around the world to keep in contact with all the fans," Grant told AAP in London ahead of Thursday's clash between Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors.

"It's not too far at all. I was in Australia last year doing some coaching in Sydney and Melbourne and the passion of basketball is still alive there.

"The raw talent is very strong and you are seeing with (Andrew) Bogut and (Patty) Mills they have players good enough to play in championship-winning teams."

Raptors coach Dwane Casey is also open to the idea and believes a day will come where the NBA has internationally-based franchises.

"These trips are tough for the teams but it is good for the NBA," Casey told AAP.

"You can't look at the distance. Flying to London is like going from Toronto to LA, it's just another road game.

"I don't know if they will take a game to Australia soon but I think at some point at some time in some year, a point will come where there are professional teams around the world.

"I don't know when that will be, but with technology, speed of travel it's something that will happen."

NBA rules prohibit coaches from discussing college players, so Casey was unable to comment on the progress of Melbourne-born starlet Ben Simmons, tipped to be the No.1 draft pick in June, but he said Australia is a fertile hunting ground for colleges searching for raw talent.

"Australia has always produced good players," he said.

"I was coaching in college when Andrew Gaze was playing at Seton Hall (University) and he showed first what a deep talent pool that country has."