Victorian centre Jordan Vandenberg was signed by the New York Knicks on Friday and temporarily made it nine NBA Aussies, but the Knicks will release him to their D-League team to develop so he is not likely to play in the NBA this season. Bogut will start at centre again for Golden State Warriors, while Patty Mills and Aron Baynes are back at San Antonio Spurs and looking to repeat as champions - although Mills' injured shoulder won't let him return until the new year. Ingles' Clippers have legitimate title claims, as do rookie centre Cam Bairstow's Chicago Bulls. So too do the Cleveland Cavaliers, where second-year point guard Matthew Dellavedova will play with Lebron James. The Cavs already are the league's hottest ticket following James' return home over the offseason. Budding guard Dante Exum will start his rookie campaign with Utah Jazz and the 19-year-old's showing in preseason has had commentators backpeddling from assessments he would be exploited by older players.

Mills' clutch shooting in the Spurs' NBA title win last season, along with Bogut and Dellavedova's excellent seasons, made a strong impression on clubs who have targeted other Australians. "No one saw it coming. Well not this quickly, anyway," Bogut said of the Australian influx. "It went from Patty almost being out of the league to now being an NBA champion. To 'Delly' having people say he wouldn't make the NBA to carving out a good year, and I hope he builds on that. "Dante and Baynesy are doing well - there is a whole lot of positivity floating around Australian basketball right now." Bogut said the attitude of Australians towards their teammates and their self-management put them ahead of more pampered players.

"We have a lot of talent, but also perseverance. We have a lot of blokes who come over here and don't read into what people say about them. They just give it a good crack and it works out for them," Bogut said. "Most of our blokes are no-nonsense as well - they have been through the AIS system, so have learned to take care of themselves. "A lot of these AAU high school kids in the US are in a structured system but at the same time are being 'babysitted' constantly. At the junior level at the AIS you are taught to be responsible for yourself and it's not given to you on a silver spoon - I think our guys catch on quicker." As for Bogut, he looks ready for a breakout season with his three-year US$36 million contract extension kicking in this term. The 29-year-old centre will enter his 10th year in the NBA when the new year ticks over and he is still standing tall despite the serious injuries and many kilometres run into his 213-centimetre frame.

"The body feels good, no real dramas, and - like most NBA players - I can't wait for the real thing to start," Bogut said. His Warriors have a new coach, Steve Kerr, a championship winner with Michael Jordan's Bulls and Tim Duncan's Spurs, and a stable team which has set its sights on finishing in the top-four of the super-strong Western conference. It won't be easy, but with two of the NBA's best scoring guards in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, along with athletic small forward Andre Iguodala and veteran bigs in Bogut and David Lee, the Warriors are good enough to challenge. Kerr values Bogut so much he flew out to Melbourne soon after his appointment to meet up with his centre and see former NBA teammates Luc Longley and Andrew Gaze, with whom Kerr remains good friends. Bogut appreciated the gesture immensely, but he seems even more excited about Kerr's on-court plans to make use of his and Lee's passing skills.

Kerr had instituted a pass-heavy offence following the trend set by the Spurs in last year's title win. In one preseason game Bogut had seven assists in 20 minutes and that's a trend he hopes to continue across the season. Last season, under former coach Mark Jackson, who has returned to ESPN as a commentator, Bogut said the Warriors had the league's worst pass-per-shot ratio of just two or three passes as Jackson preferred his guards to attack their defenders one-on-one. "He [Kerr] trusts me and Lee to handle the ball at the top and work in dribble handoffs and other sets," Bogut said. "It will make our lives easier to move around more and make it easier for guys like Steph and Klay to get cheap buckets rather than having to work their butts off for every shot.

"We think if we can move the ball and limit our turnovers then we will much better offensively, and I think we are already in the top five teams in the league defensively. "Those little changes could work wonders for us." In most commentators eyes, Cleveland, Chicago, LA Clippers and San Antonio will start the season as favourites for the championship, but the Warriors are right on their heels. "We want to be a perennial team in the west, so for us that is making the top four," Bogut said. "The west is the best it has been in a number of years. Phoenix Suns just missed out [on playoffs] last year and a few teams have got even better.

"It's going to be very very tough, but we are starting to believe we have the roster to do it." As for the future, the NBA's 82-game schedule doesn't let players look past their next flight, but Bogut thinks it's possible 10 or more Australians could be on NBA rosters before his career comes to an end. "We have a chance," Bogut said. "There is a couple of kids coming up in Ben Simmons and others. If we one day get a national team where all the guys are either NBA players or in Euro League then it will do wonders for the national team." This Christmas Day Bogut may have company with his Warriors scheduled to face Ingles' Clippers as part of the NBA's biggest regular-season day.

It should be a reminder Bogut isn't the lone Aussie anymore.