Pieces appear in place for Canada's men's basketball team to qualify for 1st Olympics since 2000

Canada hasn't won a significant senior men's basketball medal since 1936. The team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 2000.

The time is now for both droughts to end.

Canada plays its first game of the 2023 men's FIBA World Cup on Friday against France. By the end of the tournament, if it places top two among all Americas teams, Canada will have booked its ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Jay Triano, who coached that team 23 years ago in Sydney, Australia knows what a return to the Olympics would mean.

"It would just be the best thing ever for us to get back in the Olympics and then do well in the Olympics. I think that's very much on the table for this group of players," he told CBC Sports.

The assembled team in Indonesia, where Canada will play the group stage, is among the most talented in the world. Betting sites have Canada among the favourites to win the tournament.

Star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of two players at the World Cup to make an all-NBA team last season, along with Slovenia's Luka Doncic.

WATCH | Triano confident Canada will 'do well' at World Cup:

Gilgeous-Alexander, the Hamilton, Ont., native who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, said his team's limits are endless.

"Anything we put our mind to. We're for sure talented enough. It's just about us coming together as a team, building the camaraderie on and off the court and we'll be fine," he said.

Coming together will be crucial. Head coach Nick Nurse abruptly parted with the team in June and was replaced by Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez.

Like other nations, player turmoil has been a theme in the past month: star guard Jamal Murray and veteran Cory Joseph both dropped out over the past month, while Andrew Wiggins