The movement to prevent a 23-and-under age restriction for Olympic basketball may have taken a hit. The International Olympic Committee has rejected a proposal to increase the number of teams from 12 to 16 and shorten the length of the competition, USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt reports. Many NBA and pro basketball executives around the world believe the Olympics place too much of a strain on their stars, and some of them thought the proposal would have been an acceptable compromise. While we wait to see if the 2016 games are the last to feature rosters reminiscent of the Dream Team, here's the latest from around the NBA:
- Mike Bibby didn't play in the NBA this past season, but the 35-year-old is still trying to get back in the league, as he tells Alex Kramers of Kings.com. Whenever Bibby decides to stop playing, he says he'd like to get into coaching.
- Undrafted center Jack Cooley reportedly drew training camp invitations from more than 10 NBA teams after a strong showing in summer league, but he's decided to sign with Trabzonspor of Turkey, a source tells Sportando's Emiliano Carchia. It's a "substantial" deal, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (Twitter link).
- Using the specter of a D-League assignment as a way to threaten first-round pick Shabazz Muhammad into proper behavior demonstrates how Wolves executive Flip Saunders holds an unsophisticated view of the D-League, opines Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.
- Jeff Caplan of NBA.com examines how the Lakers can be better in 2013/14 than they were last season, even after losing Dwight Howard.