Mike Krzyzewski isn't ruling out returning as the coach of USA Basketball through the 2016 Olympics, Pete Thamel at SI.com reports. "There's a chance," Krzyzewski says, "That's correct."  USA Men's Basketball chairman, Jerry Colangelo, said "Give it another week and we should be resolved."

The Men's Basketball national team will be meeting for a mini-camp this summer from July 22-25, but they're still not decided on a coach, unless Krzyzewski comes back to coach again after winning the gold medal at this past summer's Summer Olympics. So, do you want Coach K back, or would you prefer one of these other candidates?

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News doesn't hide his distaste for advanced metrics in his latest dispatch, and he thinks the Nets should wait to hire a new coach until the Grizzlies make their decision on Lionel Hollins official. If Memphis management determines Hollins, whose contract is up at season's end, doesn't fit with the team's new emphasis on statistics, the Nets should pounce on the coaching free agent, Lawrence writes. Given that Hollins said yesterday that the Grizzlies want him back, however, I'd be surprised if he's changing addresses this summer. Here's more from Lawrence on the Grizzlies and the rest of the NBA:

• Chris Paul prefers to re-sign with the Clippers this summer, but he wants them to hire an African American as coach, Lawrence hears, suggesting Nate McMillan for the job that Vinny Del Negro still holds.
• If Rick Adelman steps down as Timberwolves coach, newly installed president of basketball operations Flip Saunders would come down to the bench to replace him.
• Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer probably won't be taking another team's head coaching job this summer because San Antonio has already anointed him as Gregg Popovich's successor, according to Lawrence. When Tim Duncan retires, Popovich will, too, leaving the coaching duties to Budenholzer.
• There are members of the Grizzlies organization who still aren't sold on the Rudy Gay deal, and they believe the team would have more easily overcome the Clippers in the first round if Gay were still in Memphis.

When 37-year-old Tim Duncan decides to retire, you can expect Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to follow suit, writes Dan McCarney of Spurs Nation. Before last night's Game 2 win against the Lakers, the 64-year old coach told reporters about his commitment to the franchise star's playing career:

“When he doesn’t think he can, he’ll stop. It might be in the middle of a game. I can see him walking off the court saying, ‘Nah, I’m not pulling my weight anymore. I’m gone.’ And he’ll walk. And I’ll be right behind him, like this. No pride, no nothing.”

McCarney adds that Duncan's retirement could still be a few years away, considering the former number one overall pick's return to All-Star form this season. In 69 games, Duncan averaged 17.8 PPG, 9.9 RPG, and 2.7 BPG in 30.1 MPG, marking the first time he's reached a 30-minute per game average since the 2009-10 season. His season scoring average represents a progressive two-point improvement each season since 2010-11, and his blocks per game average this year is nearly double the average from last year (1.5) . 

The race for the final playoff spot(s) in the Western Conference will continue tonight, when the Lakers play the Bucks in Milwaukee and the Mavericks host the Pacers in Dallas. As we look forward to those games, let's round up a few Thursday items out of the conference....

• Tony Allen is headed for unrestricted free agency this summer, and at least one Eastern Conference general manager thinks Allen will receive a modest raise. "Three years at $4MM per year sounds right," the GM tells Chris Mannix of SI.com. "He adds instant toughness and a defensive mentality to your team. He's a leader on the floor and he isn't going to back down from anyone. I think everyone in the league would love to have him." The Grizzlies have no interest in approaching luxury-tax territory, so it's unclear if they'll be able to bring back Allen.
• Chris Sheridan of SheridanHoops.com believes that both Los Angeles head coaches, Mike D'Antoni and Vinny Del Negro, could be on the outs with the Lakers and Clippers respectively if they don't finish the season strong.
• With Metta World Peace expected to miss six weeks after undergoing surgery on his left knee, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News wonders if the veteran forward has played his last game with the Lakers.
• Terrel Harris' new deal with the Hornets includes an second year that will become guaranteed if Harris makes the team's 2013/14 roster, reports Sam Amick of USA Today.
• Nuggets coach George Karl tells Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post that he thinks Gregg Popovich would be interested in the Team USA head coaching position, and that Popovich would be a great choice for the job.

With the Spurs attempting to mitigate Tony Parker's ankle injury, the Grizzlies and Rockets firmly in the playoff picture, and the Mavericks attempting to stay out of the lottery, the Southwest Division is one of the more fascinating in the league currently. Here is a roundup of the latest updates:

• Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune writes that Grievis Vasquez is thriving in an increased role for the Hornets.
• Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune profiles Rockets rookie Royce White, who is attempting to carve out an NBA career for himself while managing an anxiety disorder.
• Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is demanding accountability from his rookies, writes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
• Dirk Nowitzki is excited to have another native German in the NBA in Rockets rookie Tim Ohlbrecht, Sefko writes.
• Jan Hubbard of SheridanHoops.com writes that Jerry Colangelo should hire Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to coach Team USA.

The Spurs announced today that Tony Parker will miss approximately four weeks with a grade-two left ankle sprain, injecting some drama into the race for the top playoff seed in the Western Conference. San Antonio has taken the No. 1 spot the past two seasons and has a three-game lead on the Thunder this time around, but without their All-Star point guard, the Spurs could be in danger of falling behind even the third-place Clippers, who are just three and a half games back. We haven't heard any serious rumors that the Spurs are looking for a replacement, and with a full 15-man roster, they'd have to waive someone to bring another point guard aboard. While we wait to see what happens in the wake of Parker's injury, here's more from the Lone Star State:

• Dirk Nowitzki and Rick Carlisle aren't dwelling on Deron Williams decision to spurn the Mavs and re-sign with the Nets this past summer, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post chronicles.
• Mavs owner Mark Cuban hasn't shown much regret about missing out on Williams, but he's having a hard time dealing with his team's losing ways this season, notes Benjamin Hoffman of The New York Times. "It’s the most painful thing that I’ve been through," Cuban said. "It’s like having a company that’s going out of business."
• Spurs coach Gregg Popovich hopes he lands the Team USA head coaching job, a position he's coveted for years, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.

NBA Commissioner David Stern addressed members of the media while attending the Hornets' game against the Lakers in New Orleans on Wednesday night. Stern, who had previously announced that he is stepping down as Commissioner on February 1, 2014, spoke on several topics. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.com has a transcription, and the highlights are reprinted below.

On the Hornets' announcement that they plan to change their name to the Pelicans:

“If it works for them, it works for me,” Stern said. “I don’t have any objections to anything that the Hornets want to do name-wise because I’m sure it’ll be sensible. … I’m sure whatever it is, it’ll be good. If [Pelicans] is what it is, that’s fine. … I think everything sounds good. I think Lakers, have you seen any lakes in Los Angeles? There’s the same amount of lakes in L.A. as there is jazz in Utah, or grizzlies in Memphis. I’m out of that business. Whatever works for a team works for me.”

On the Lakers' new TV deal:

“It’s one component of the Lakers’ income that gets accounted for when they make a payment into the revenue sharing pool, so there’s more money to be shared,” Stern said. “The combination of that and the tax tend to act as something of a brake on team spending.”

On Spurs coach Gregg Popovich's controversial decision to rest four players against the Heat on Thursday:

“In the case of San Antonio, they didn’t just come to town and rest healthy players, they sent a 26-year-old and 30-year-old plus Manu and Timmy home virtually under the cover of darkness or light of day, however you do it, without notifying as our rules require for injury and illness. Maybe it’s my mistake not to think injury and illness when you’re secreting someone away should also include deciding to move them out. So in all other circumstances, I thought if we didn’t do something this time there would never be a reason to do it. Only visit to Miami, practically the first month of the season, notifying nobody and sending home young and healthy players, it merited rebut and I did it. And this was a team decision. This is not me and Pop. Pop is a great coach, Hall of Fame coach. This decision was made by the entire senior management and ownership of the San Antonio Spurs and I felt that they were doing what they perceived was their job and I was doing what I perceived as my job and that’s what happens.”

On the ability of small-market teams to compete under the new CBA:

“I don’t have any concerns about small markets under the new CBA,” Stern said. “I think when the tax penalties come in next year, where teams that pay an extra $30 million, for example, might have to pay another $84 million in taxes, lose their right to the mid-level exception, lose their right to sign-and-trade, you will see a substantially modified behavior. Actually, we began to see it this year when Chicago, a ‘large market,’ passed on matching Omer Asik because they don’t want to deal with the $45-million-dollar impact in taxes in the third year. Then New York declined to match Houston’s offer to Jeremy Lin, and Oklahoma City decided to trade James Harden rather than deal with the tax consequences of a max contract, so we’re seeing early green shoots and it’s going to get more profound. I think, together with revenue sharing, it’s going to allow low-grossing teams to compete with high-grossing teams. New Orleans is going to be a profitable team, and the ultimate irony is that you would call it a small market because it’s one of our smallest markets, but they’re going to contribute to revenue sharing.”

The latest news and notes from the Southwest Division on Sunday afternoon:

• Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News wonders whether Spurs coach Gregg Popovich cost himself the opportunity to coach Team USA at the 2016 Olympics with his controversial decision to rest several starters on Thursday.
• Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tells Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com that he understands the NBA's decision to fine the Spurs, although he may have done the same thing in Popovich's shoes.
• Darren Collison, on the last year of his rookie-scale contract, doesn't think he got a fair shot at starting for the Mavs, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com, but Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News thinks the numbers support coach Rick Carlisle's decision to go with newly acquired Derek Fisher as the starter.
• Hornets forward Jason Smith tells John Reid of the Times-Picayune that it is the responsibility of the veteran players to set an example for younger players on the struggling team.
• Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune writes that the Hornets so far are failing to deliver on their promise of a brighter future.

The latest news from around the NBA on Friday evening:

• CBSSports.com's Ken Berger reports that the NBA is considering instituting a new policy on resting players following Gregg Popovich's controversial decision on Thursday.
• Howard Beck of the New York Times writes that Brook Lopez' foot is not seriously injured, despite indications to the contrary.
• The New York Times' Dan Duggan writes that the Wizards are trying to put their horrific start to the season behind them.
• Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Bucks have still not set a time for Luc Mbah a Moute's return.
• Sam Amico of FoxSportsOhio.com writes that Hawks GM Danny Ferry has turned the team around faster than expected.
• Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer writes that Cavs rookie Kevin Jones is not expected to find his way into the rotation anytime soon.

The results are in on NBA.com's annual survey of the league's general managers, with all 30 NBA GMs weighing in on dozens of questions about the 2012/13 season and the 2012 offseason. We won't round up all of their answers here, so feel free to check out the full results at NBA.com, but here are a few of the more notable responses:

• 70% of respondents believe the Heat will repeat as NBA champs, while 96.7% think Miami will win the Eastern Conference. Since GMs aren't allowed to vote for their own teams, that means the rest of the league's 29 GMs picked the Heat to come out of the East.
• The Lakers are the favorites to come out of the West, earning 60% of the votes. The Thunder (36.7%) and Nuggets (3.3%) were the only other teams mentioned.
• LeBron James is the player most GMs would start a franchise with, earning 80% of the votes.
• 86.2% of GMs believe the Lakers made the best offseason moves, with Dwight Howard (70%) and Steve Nash (20%) earning the most votes for the summer addition who will make the biggest impact. Los Angeles' sign-and-trade for Nash was also voted the summer's most surprising move.
• Besides the Lakers, the other teams receiving votes for the best offseason roster moves were the Nets, Hawks, and Warriors.
• The Nets (62.1%) ran away with the votes on which team will be most improved, while Andre Iguodala (16.7%) topped the choices for most underrated acquisition -- the Celtics' duo of Jason Terry and Courtney Lee also received support in that category.
• Anthony Davis (76.7%) and Gregg Popovich (80%) were the runaway picks for rookie of the year and the NBA's best coach, respectively.