Lakers Amnesty Metta World Peace

The Lakers have announced that they will use their amnesty provision on Metta World Peace, reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN LA (via Twitter).  World Peace opted into his 2013/14 contact with the Lakers in late June, which was worth about $7.73MM, making this move all but inevitable.  We heard earlier this week the move was likely to happen before July 16th, the deadline for NBA teams to utilize their amnesty provision. 

The Lakers signed Nick Young earlier today, which ramped up speculation that World Peace would soon be amnestied.  On Tuesday, we heard that World Peace is interested in joining the Knicks, Clippers, Nets, Bulls, Heat, Thunder, Spurs, and Pacers, in that order.  Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweets that the Knicks will have interest.  According to Ken Berger of CBS, teams with cap room can put in a waiver claim over the next 48 hours to pick up a portion of World Peace's salary, with the highest bid winning.  If no team bids, he will become an unrestricted free agent and teams like the Knicks can sign him (Twitter links).

The move is just the latest in what has been a tumultuous offseason in Los Angeles.  After the news broke, World Peace tweeted thanking Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak for calling him before he alerted the media.  Kupchak released a statement regarding the move, tweeted by Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register:

"It's tough to say goodbye to a player such as Metta, who has been a significant part of our team the past four seasons. For anyone who’s had the opportunity to get to know him, it’s impossible not to love him. He has made many contributions to this organization, both in his community work as well as in our games; perhaps no more so than in his clutch play in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals in helping to lead us over the Celtics in one of the greatest playoff wins in Lakers history. We thank Metta for all his contributions and wish him the best of luck in the future."