Metta World Peace won't exercise the early termination option on the final year of his contract, meaning he'll remain under contract with the Lakers for the 2013/14 season, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. World Peace had until today to make a decision on his $7,727,280 option for next year.
While the man formerly known as Ron Artest was extremely unlikely to receive a $7.73MM salary on the open market, the decision wasn't a total no-brainer. Had he opted out of his contract, World Peace could have negotiated a new deal with the Lakers at a lesser rate, ensuring he remained in Los Angeles. Now that he has opted in, he risks becoming an amnesty victim next month if the Lakers decide they'd rather reduce their tax bill than keep World Peace on the roster.
With World Peace now officially on the books for '13/14, the Lakers have approximately $76MM in guaranteed salary committed to next year's roster. Decisions are still due on whether to bring back Chris Duhon and Jodie Meeks, and of course, a new max contract for Dwight Howard would push team salary into the $100MM range.
too bad