For years now, the National Basketball Association has been the carrot dangling in front of Rowan Barrett's nose, the brass ring that the veteran Canadian national team star has never quite been able to grab.

Talk of Barrett, at age 30, making the jump into the self-proclaimed greatest basketball league in the world has resurfaced once again in the wake of his fine play at the Americas Olympic qualification tournament.

The issue was initially raised last week by Steve Nash, Barrett's Canadian teammate and a two-time NBA all-star with the Dallas Mavericks. Nash said that any NBA team should be proud to have Barrett after he scorched Puerto Rico for 32 points in Canada's tournament-opening 89-79 win.

"Everybody's in awe of what he's done," said Mike Katz, an assistant coach with the Canadian team who has watched Barrett's development over the past 12 years.

Through the first five games, Barrett is the tournament's leading scorer, averaging 21.8 points. He's the team's senior member, having played in more than 100 international games since 1991, and his silky jump shot has never been better.

The 6-foot-5 guard, who has played professionally throughout Europe and the Middle East since 1997, has connected on 35 of his 60 (58.3 per cent) shots from the floor, including an eye-popping 14 of 26 (53.8 per cent) from beyond the three-point arc.

"It makes a lot of sense for someone in the NBA to take a chance on him," Nash said after Canada's 111-71 loss to the United States on Monday, which evened Canada's second-round record at 2-2.

"So many guys come in the league for only a year or two. Here you've got a veteran who's been around and knows how to play and will probably do so for the NBA rookie minimum salary.

"A lot of teams are looking to add players who can play while trying not to add too much money on their salary cap. I think he's a great find for anyone."