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USA Basketball likely to add to Olympic pool

In the wake of an injury crisis, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Tuesday that he’s likely to add “one or two players” to the list of finalists for Team USA’s Olympic roster.

The U.S. announced 20 finalists in January, but has since lost five of those candidates. Starting center Dwight Howard recently had back surgery and point guard Derrick Rose tore a knee ligament Saturday.

The losses of Howard and Rose follows previous season-ending injuries suffered by Chauncey Billups (Achilles) and LaMarcus Aldridge (hip) and the exclusion of Lamar Odom from consideration after Odom was deactivated by the Dallas Mavericks before the playoffs began after a poor season.

Colangelo announced the intent to add a player or two to the preliminary roster at a news conference in Las Vegas with Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski in the midst of meetings with Krzyzewski’s staff about the roster and logistics for the summer.

Colangelo said Tuesday that the 12-man final roster won’t be selected “until the very last moment,” but the deadline still falls before the NBA playoffs will be over in late June. A final roster with up to six alternates is due June 18, although USA Basketball had been planning to make the selections by June 1 before the rash of injuries.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Deron Williams wants new deal before Olympics

All-Star point guard Deron Williams wants to have a new contract before the Olympics start in late July.

Speaking a day after the New Jersey Nets’ season ended, Williams refused to say whether he will be a Net when the team moves into its new arena in Brooklyn.

”The season just ended yesterday,” Williams said. ”We have time, playoffs. A lot of stuff is going to happen. Just take my time. But I don’t want to take too much time. I want to try to have something done by the Olympics.”

Williams has said all season that he would opt out of his contract and test the free-agent market, and that remains his plan after the Nets (22-44) missed the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season.

Williams, who toured the under-construction Barclays Arena this week, said he can see himself playing in the building, but his desire is to be a member of a championship team.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Andrew Bogut to have ankle surgery, miss Olympics

Australian center Andrew Bogut will have arthroscopic ankle surgery next week and miss the London Olympics. He hopes to return to fitness in time for the start of the next NBA season.

Golden State Warriors general manager Larry Riley says the operation for Bogut, and the same for teammate Stephen Curry, will be done on Wednesday in Van Nuys, California.

Bogut broke his left ankle on Jan. 25 against Houston before coming over in a trade from Milwaukee. Riley called the scope to clean up loose particles “routine” and ruled out any possibility the 7-foot (2.13-meter) center would play for Australia’s Olympic team at London.

“After seeing a specialist I have decided it would be best to get my ankle cleaned out via arthroscopic surgery,” Bogut said on Twitter.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Andrew Bynum says he will skip Olympics

Lakers center Andrew Bynum is not interested in playing in the Olympics because he wants extra rest and also plans to undergo the same innovative knee procedure that Kobe Bryant had in Germany last summer.

“I’ve got to take care of my legs in the off-season,” Bynum said Friday. “I’ve got some things planned for my knees…. I’ve got to do some therapy that I’m going overseas to do.”

Bynum has undergone surgical procedures on each of his knees in recent years.

The procedure in Germany is much less invasive and marketed as Regenokine or Orthokine.

It targets proteins or molecules called interleukin that cause inflammatory responses. Blood is removed from the affected area of a patient and spun in a centrifuge. The antagonists of interleukin are removed to create a serum that is injected back into the targeted area.

— Reported by Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

Anderson Varejao update: Still healing from wrist injury

Cavaliers Forward/Center Anderson Varejao continues to rehabilitate and recover from his fractured right wrist. While the healing of his fracture has progressed well, his full recovery is not complete and he is still experiencing some soreness in the wrist.

As a result, the team has made the decision to withhold him from play for the remainder of the Cavaliers season.

This will put Varejao in the best position to focus on his rehabilitation and hence reach the point of full recovery as quickly as possible.

Dwyane Wade thinks Olympians deserve pay

Add Miami guard Dwyane Wade to the list of Olympians who believe basketball players in the Games should be paid.

Boston guard Ray Allen, a member of the 2000 gold medal team, told FOX Sports Florida on Tuesday he believes Team USA players should be compensated. Wade, who won bronze in 2004 and gold in 2008 and likely will play this summer in London, said Wednesday he agrees.

“First of all, it’s an honor to play in the Olympics, but there are a lot of things you do for the Olympics. A lot of jerseys you sell. There are a lot of things you do. We play the whole summer,” Wade said. “I do think guys should be compensated, just like I think college players should be compensated as well. Unfortunately, it’s not that, but I think it should be something for it.”

Wade agreed with Allen that the best way to pay Olympic players would be through jersey sales, but he didn’t specify an amount.

— Reported by Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports

Deng, Gordon, Byron Mullens to play for Britain at London Olympic games

Ben Gordon and Byron Mullens haven’t worn the Great Britain jersey before but both NBA players have been included in the country’s preliminary squad for the London Games.

The London-born and United States-raised Gordon, who plays for the Detroit Pistons, is a former teammate of British superstar Luol Deng in Chicago while Mullens has a United Kingdom passport because his mother hails from England.

In a statement issued by British Basketball, Gordon said: “I am very excited to pull on the GB jersey this summer and play for my country.

“To be invited into camp is the first step in that journey and I am immensely proud to have the opportunity.” …

Mullens revealed on his Twitter account last month that he would be with the Brits and included a photo of recently received UK passport.

He tweeted: “Yessir. I will be in London this summer! 2012 Olympics.”

— Reported by FIBA.com

Anderson Varejao plans to play for Brazil in Olympics

Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao plans to play for Brazil in this summer’s Olympics as long as he’s fully recovered from a wrist injury.

Varejao broke his right wrist on Feb. 11 in a game against Milwaukee. It’s taken him longer to get back than expected, but the 6-foot-11 Varejao says he wants to play for Cleveland again in the final month of the season because “this is what I love to do.” And as long as he’s healthy, Varejao intends to play for Brazil’s national team in the London Games.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Allen Iverson to play for a team in the Dominican Republic

Former NBA star Allen Iverson is joining a regional basketball league in the Dominican Republic for a month.

(LATEST UPDATE: Iverson’s manager denied the report.)

Team president Milton Nunez told The Associated Press on Thursday the 36-year-old guard will play for Pueblo Nuevo. He declined to say how much Iverson will be paid.

Iverson is to arrive Sunday and play for his second-place team that same day against GUG in Santiago province, Nunez said.

“He and his agent have told us that he has been training a lot and that even if he hasn’t been playing anywhere, he has what we need to help Pueblo Nuevo,” Nunez said.

— Reported by the Associated Press

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Stephon Marbury denies hitting a fan after game in China

Stephon Marbury

Enjoys typing “love is love” thousands of times per day on Twitter

Former NBA star Stephon Marbury has denied hitting a fan after a testy playoff loss in a Chinese Basketball Association game.

The 35-year-old Marbury and his Beijing Ducks teammates were trapped in their team van after their 102-100 road loss on Sunday to the Shanxi Brave Dragons, Marbury’s original team when he joined the league in 2010. A newspaper photograph showed fans pounding on the windows of the van.

Marbury was quoted Tuesday by the official China Daily as saying he and the fans had been separated by guards. However, he disputed reports he’d hit a fan.

“I didn’t do that,” Marbury said. “How could I do that over the security guards?”

Marbury scored 25 points in the game that was interrupted for 10 minutes as Shanxi fans threw water bottles onto the court to protest what they deemed to be a bad call.

— Reported by the Associated Press