With the expected overhaul (at least as much as is possible) of the Lakers’ roster this off-season, one name that has been repeatedly thrown into conversations of players that won’t return next season is Metta World Peace. Even though his contract isn’t up until after next season, there were two options that might result in World Peace’s Lakers tenure ending this summer – opting out or the Amnesty provision.
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World Peace had stated that he would consider opting out of his deal, asserting the player option in his contract, if it meant he could sign a longer deal with the Lakers (which isn’t going to happen). The other possibility was that the team used their amnesty option on him, cutting ties with the former Defensive Player of the Year and getting his contract off their books.
However, according to ESPN’s resident CBA guru Larry Coon (h/t to Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors), World Peace has reportedly changed his mind about opting out of the final year of his deal.
(If Metta opts out) then the Lakers save about $7.7 million, and the financial objections I raised become less of a problem. But from what I hear, even though Metta raised the possibility of opting-out, it isn’t going to happen. I’d be shocked if it did.
In reality this shouldn’t be too surprising, even for a guy who’s made some strange decisions in his career. World Peace would leave nearly $8 million on the table in hopes to find a deal with more years attached, but would probably be looking at half as much money. Even a man who calls himself World Peace isn’t about to sacrifice $4 million.
So, if the Lakers are going to part ways with World Peace this summer, it’s most likely going to be via the Amnesty clause. Still, even if that’s the franchise’s only option, I would expect them to make it happen. After World Peace’s rapidly declining performance at the end of last season and the Lakers’ need to get younger, if the two parties part ways during the off-season it wouldn’t be an enormous surprise.
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