With college stars like Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle possibly entering the 2014 draft, teams with losing records may start dumping veteran talent and tanking games to better position themselves for a high lottery pick.

Such moves likely will infuriate fans and bring the league under considerable scrutiny.

Grantland.com may have uncovered a potential solution. The website reports that it has obtained a copy of a proposal that would eliminate the draft lottery and replace it with a 30-year wheel system in which each team would pick in each first-round slot only once over a 30-year period.

According to Grantland, the proposal was submitted by a team official and has gained the support of some high-level NBA officials. The site says that the league may float the proposal to team owners in 2014.

Under the proposal, each team would pick in a predetermined draft slot each year, eliminating the practice of protecting draft picks. Each team would be guaranteed one top-six pick every five seasons and at least one top-12 pick every four years.

The team with the top pick in the first year would pick first, 30th, 19th, 18th, seventh and sixth over the first six seasons.


RONDO MAY NOT RETURN UNTIL FEBRUARY


The Boston Celtics expect point guard Rajon Rondo to return in January.

Rondo says not so fast.

Rondo says it could be late January or even late February before he is ready to return from his knee injury.

“It might be the end of January, late February,” Rondo told the Boston Herald after the Celtics’ 106-79 loss to the Indiana Sunday. “I’m going to come back when I get my stamina.”

Asked if returning in January was a realistic goal, Rondo said, “No. I’ve had one practice — a pickup game, and that’s about it. My endurance is key. I don’t want to come back and not be 100 percent.

“The worst thing is coming back and not being in shape, because you can risk injury. I want to be in basketball-condition shape.”

Rondo asked his teammates to stay after practice Friday for a 5-on-5 pickup game. According to the Herald, he looked rusty and winded.

He plans to participate in a scrimmage Thursday.

“I think it’s very important,” he told the Herald. “I’ve been in the other drills, in the dummy offense, I know the game, I know what we’re looking for with our sets. It’s a matter of getting up and down the court. I got winded very quickly. I just have to go as hard as I can.”

Rondo said he is confident his surgically repaired knee is fine.

“I have confidence in my knee,” he said. “I’m excited to be playing again. Right now it’s repetition, playing 5-on-5 basketball. The knee is fine.”


NETS WON’T TRADE WILLIAMS


The Nets could be looking to make a trade now that franchise center Brook Lopez is out for the season with a broken right foot.

But don’t expect any trade talks to include point guard Deron Williams.

According to ESPN New York, the Nets had preliminary talks last week with the Rockets about center Omer Asik and guard Jeremy Lin, but the talks gained no steam because the Rockets wanted Williams.

The Nets likely won’t trade Williams because he was one of the main reasons that Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett signed with Brooklyn, ESPN New York reported. Williams, who signed a five-year, $98 million extension in 2012, has played well since returning from an ankle injury.


RODMAN PLANS RETURN TO NORTH KOREA


Former basketball star Dennis Rodman left North Korea on Monday, but he plans to return next month — even if a sponsor won't be with him.

Rodman's short visit was aimed at finalizing plans to bring 11 other former NBA players to Pyongyang for a Jan. 8 exhibition game marking Kim Jong Un's birthday. The two struck up a friendship when Rodman first traveled to the secretive state earlier this year, but Rodman did not answer questions from the media on whether he had met with Kim this time.

Rodman is the highest profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from his father in late 2011.

He wants to bring the group of players to Pyongyang for the exhibition, but has acknowledged that some of the Americans have been reluctant to come. He held tryouts for the North Korean team during his visit, which began Thursday. He has said he expects to announce the U.S. roster soon, and that he is planning another game in June.

Later Monday, though, Irish betting company Paddy Power PLC — a driving force behind the exhibition — said it had cut ties with Rodman.

"Given changed circumstances, Paddy Power has decided to withdraw its association with the Dennis Rodman basketball initiative in North Korea," the company said in a statement.

Rodman declined to answer questions from reporters on his arrival at Beijing's airport if the two met on his latest visit. On Sunday night, though, he told The Associated Press that he had not yet had a meeting with Kim. He arrived in North Korea on Thursday, a week after North Korea announced the execution of Kim's once-powerful uncle, sparking speculation by foreign analysts over the future of the Kim regime.

Contributors: Sporting News staff, Associated Press