Andrea Bargnani turned into a far more explosive player this season with the Toronto Raptors.

Now the seven-footer will hope to pour in the points and pull down the rebounds for Italy and help them qualify for the Final Round of the EuroBasket.

Bargnani, Italy coach Carlo Recalcati confirmed on Thursday, will play for the Azzurri in the Additional Qualifying Round when they go up against France and Finland in Group B.

Should the Italians finish top of that pool, they will take on the winner of Group A (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium or Portugal).

"I want to have the best players available for the qualifiers," Recalcati said in an FIP statement.

"Obviously, among them I include the ones that play in America; Bargnani has already given his availability. I will meet (Golden State Warriors guard Marco) Belinelli in a couple of weeks' time when he returns to Italy and for (USC Trojan guard Daniel) Hackett, we will have to wait until the NBA draft on June 25."

The presence of Bargnani should lift the morale of an Italy national team that had to go into battle last summer without all four of its North American-based players.

The New York Knicks rookie Danilo Gallinari recently had back surgery and is almost certainly ruled out.

"It's going to be a very long summer," Recalcati said.

"It will be a period of challenges of the highest level."

The Azzurri will start with the Mediterranean Games.

"We will take young players for the Mediterranean Games so that they can gain experience and prove their worth without, however, renouncing to having a competitive squad," Recalcati said.

"We are the defending champions and we want to honour this competition and try to achieve what we managed to do four years ago."

Recalcati is already looking ahead to the opening game showdown with France.

"We will not have a long preparation but I believe it will be enough to arrive in the best possible condition for the games that count - first the one with France, a traditional rival that has great quality," he said.

"We will not underestimate the other teams but the first game at home will be crucial."

As for the French Basketball Federation's much publicised signing of a letter of engagement by point guard Tony Parker that commits the San Antonio Spurs point guard to national team duty through the summer of 2012, FIP president Dino Meneghin said: "We hope our players don't need a piece of paper.

"The national team is not a contract. It's a feeling, an emotion. For me, a handshake means much more."