Metta World Peace Rumors | Hoops Rumors

No Trades Or Coaching Changes for Knicks?

December 27th, 2013 at 1:35pm CST by Jonathan Nehring

1:35pm: The Knicks front office remains in active pursuit of trades and is making contingency plans in the event Woodson is fired, writes Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Isola figures Dolan felt compelled to meet with the team to quell internal speculation about potential changes ahead. In any case, the future of the Knicks appears to remain shrouded in mystery.

11:15am: Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that Knicks chairman James Dolan told players yesterday morning that there will be no trades or changes in the coaching staff. Stein says the meeting was held by Dolan to convince the players to come together behind head coach Mike Woodson and his plan to “win [the Atlantic Division]”.

The Knicks have started the season 9-19 which has created many rumors that Woodson would be the first NBA coach fired this season and be without a job as early as this weekend. They have also been included in many trade rumors including a trade for Toronto’s Kyle Lowry, and a trade for Boston’s Rajon Rondo. Knicks players considered to be trade candidates so far this season included Iman Shumpert, Carmelo Anthony, and Metta World Peace.

Time, and the Knicks’ place in the standings, will tell whether Dolan sticks with this plan. The trade deadline which would force the Knicks to stick to this plan is Thursday, February 20th.

World Peace Wants To Play Five More Seasons

December 18th, 2013 at 7:49pm CST by Chuck Myron

Metta World Peace at 34 years old might not be the player he used to be, but the Knicks forward has no intention of retiring soon, telling Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times that he wants his career to continue for five seasons after this one (Twitter link). World Peace is in his 15th year in the league, so he’d make it an even 20 if he sticks for as long as he hopes.

The former Ron Artest is known for his outlandish statements and sense of humor, so it’s hard to take him at his word. Still, he remains a believer in his worth to NBA teams, recently suggesting that if he were traded to the Raptors, as had been rumored, he’d inject the rebuilding Toronto club with a “championship mentality.” World Peace also said he’d signed his two-year deal with the Knicks in hopes of winning a title in his native New York, and he said in September that the Thunder and Clippers were among the teams interested in him before he committed to the Knicks.

The Lakers amnestied World Peace in spite of a 2012/13 season that had been something of a renaissance for him, as he averaged 12.4 points and 5.0 rebounds with a 40.3% field-goal percentage, his best marks in three years. He’s nowhere near those figures this season, and the Knicks are giving him just 15.7 minutes per game, by far the least amount of playing time he’s seen in his career. World Peace has a player option worth about $1.66MM for next season, and it would appear as though he’s likely to exercise it, given his level of play and intention of remaining in the league, though that’s just my speculation.

Knicks Links: Anthony, Griffin, Aldridge

December 13th, 2013 at 7:42pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks have won three out of the first five contests in a nine-game stretch against Eastern Conference opponents. The run doesn’t include any meetings with the Pacers or Heat, so it’s a chance for New York to start its climb out of the Atlantic Division cellar, and for coach Mike Woodson to shush speculation about his job security. Here’s the latest on the Knicks:

Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling proposes a swap centered on Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin and shares insight from sources close to the Clippers and Knicks about the idea. Zwerling also hears that the Knicks wanted to pursue LaMarcus Aldridge this summer but the Creative Artists Agency goaded them into trading instead for Andrea Bargnani, one of their clients.
The only way Knicks owner James Dolan would agree to an Anthony-Griffin swap is if Anthony tells him he’s signing elsewhere in free agency this summer, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
Metta World Peace tells reporters, including Marc Berman of the New York Post, that he signed with the Knicks with the intention of winning a title in New York (Sulia link). The veteran forward says the Raptors would gain a “championship mentality” if the Knicks throw him in a Kyle Lowry trade, as has been rumored.

Kyle Lowry Rumors: Friday

December 13th, 2013 at 6:53pm CST by Luke Adams

An overnight report suggested that Knicks owner James Dolan had blocked a potential acquisition of Kyle Lowry, but Marc Berman of the New York Post provides another possible explanation for talks between the Knicks and Raptors breaking down. We have more details on that below, along with the rest of the day’s Lowry-related updates:

The Nets have “zero intention of surrendering Bogdanovic or a first-rounder for Lowry, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, who can’t envision Brooklyn landing the point guard, given Toronto’s insistence on a first-round pick and a young asset. The Nets are enamored with Bogdanovic and don’t have many first-rounders to trade (All Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

Sam Amick of USA Today hears from two people with knowledge of the Nets‘ dealings that the team won’t acquire Lowry if the Raptors insist on getting a 2020 first-rounder from Brooklyn. As for the Warriors, Amick says that as of late Friday, they view the asking price for Lowry as too high and appear to be moving on.
Raptors GM Masai Ujiri was in Turkey yesterday and saw Bogdanovic in action, according to Halil Can Pelister SuperBasket.org (Twitter link). Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun notes (via Twitter) that the trip had been prearranged, so it’s not necessarily a signal that the Raps are serious about a deal with the Nets.
Wojnarowski’s latest update on the Lowry talks is consistent with Frank Isola’s report, indicating that Dolan bailed on a deal that would have sent Felton, World Peace, and a 2018 first-rounder to Toronto. The Knicks‘ front office would like to re-enter negotiations, and is working to convince Dolan to ignore public criticism, but it’s unclear if the Knicks would put that same offer on the table or whether they’d need to upgrade it.
The Nets and Raptors have exchanged ideas on packages that include Mirza Teletovic, Tyshawn Taylor, and Bojan Bogdanovic, according to Wojnarowski. Jason Terry has also been discussed for salary-matching purposes, but the Nets so far seem unwilling to include Mason Plumlee or a future first-round pick.
The Warriors have also remained involved in Lowry talks, says Wojnarowski.
Lowry told reporters, including Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun, that he anticipates being moved at some point, but has never asked the Raptors for a trade.
According to Berman, after the Knicks thought they had a deal in place, Toronto’s asking price went up. Rather than accepting Raymond Felton, Metta World Peace, and a 2018 first-round pick, Toronto wants to include Tim Hardaway Jr. in place of World Peace, says Berman.
Within Berman’s piece, he notes that Felton isn’t giving too much thought to the latest reports. “I laughed at that trade stuff,’’ Felton said. “I don’t talk about. I’ve been in the league for nine years. That stuff is going to happen when you have a good season. I have nothing to do with it. I don’t deal with it. That’s why we have general managers.”
As the Knicks‘ front office works with Dolan to regroup on the Lowry front, the Nets are gaining traction as a possible destination for the Raptors‘ point guard, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Wojnarowski adds in a second tweet that Toronto continues to talk to several teams about Lowry, so nothing is imminent.

Latest On Kyle Lowry

December 12th, 2013 at 8:36pm CST by Chuck Myron

8:36pm: According to Wojnarowski, Knicks owner James Dolan is sensitive to the public perception that GM Masai Ujiri “bamboozled” him in the Carmelo Anthony trade, and the chance of getting criticized for giving up too much in a deal for Lowry has become a hurdle in these talks. Toronto is said to be discussing deals for Lowry with an ever-growing list of teams.

Wojnarwoski adds that New York doesn’t want to include either Shumpert or Hardaway Jr. in discussions (they reportedly refused a proposal involving the former along with Felton), and without Shumpert or a draft pick going to Toronto, there isn’t any traction to a deal. Also, the Knicks are believed to still be hesitant about trading a future first round draft choice to the Raptors, and there seems to be doubt over how long they’ll keep that option on the table.

As for the Nets’ interest, Wojnarowski says the team isn’t willing to include either a 2020 first-round pick or one of its young players – including Mason Plumlee – in a trade package.

4:03pm: Toronto is insisting on a first-rounder from the Knicks in part because taking on Felton would leave the Raptors with more long-term money, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Felton’s deal runs through 2015/16, which is a player option year, while Lowry is on an expiring contract. The Knicks would like to save Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr. for another deal, Stein adds (Twitter links). The Raptors are seeking two out of three assets from the Knicks: Shumpert, Hardaway, or a first-rounder, Stein tweets.

3:46pm: The Knicks are refusing to give up a first-round pick, and that’s gumming up the talks between the two teams, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.

3:24pm: The Nets represent the strongest competition to the Knicks for Kyle Lowry among an “ever-growing list of teams” going after the Raptors point guard, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. New York’s latest offer includes Metta World Peace and a 2018 first-round draft pick to go with Raymond Felton, according to Wojnarowski, who indicates that the Knicks are wavering on their willingness to include the pick.

The Raptors are reportedly asking for a quality young player or a first-round pick, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com, who says the price could be too high for Brooklyn’s tastes (Twitter link). Still, Brooklyn’s interest is legitimate, Mannix writes, and Wojnarowski hears the Raptors are investigating Bojan Bogdanovic, a former second-round pick whose rights the Nets hold.

Lowry is apparently interested in heading to New York, and Wojnarowski says he’s spent most of the season hoping for a trade out of Toronto. The Warriors are another team with interest in Lowry, but the odds that the Warriors land him are “very very slim,” according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group, who doesn’t think Golden State has much to offer the Raptors (Twitter links). Lowry has fans in the Timberwolves front office, but the team doesn’t have enough assets or financial flexibility, and isn’t in the mix for the point guard, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (on Twitter).

The Knicks can’t trade World Peace until Sunday, since he signed a contract this past offseason. The Raptors would probably buy him out of his two-year, approximately $3.5MM deal if they traded for him, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.

L.A. Notes: MWP, Odom, Kobe, Farmar

November 28th, 2013 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

The West Coast was the best coast last night, as the NBA’s Los Angeles and New York teams squared off in a pair of contests. The Clippers handled the Knicks even after Chris Paul left the game early with a hamstring strain, and the Lakers edged the Nets in spite of Jason Kidd‘s best efforts. Here’s more out of L.A.:

After he was amnestied by the Lakers in July, Metta World Peace seriously considered signing with the Clippers, as he tells Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles. “I was at the Clippers’ facility the whole summer, but I just felt like the biggest challenge in the world is New York City,” said the Knicks forward. World Peace went on to say that he hopes to see former teammate Lamar Odom return to the NBA, whether it’s with the Clips or another club.
The man formerly known as Ron Artest also had some thoughts on Kobe Bryant‘s extension with the Lakers, telling Markazi that he thinks Kobe could have secured a larger salary from the team: “He could have gotten whatever he wanted. Whatever he would have asked for, he would have probably gotten. It’s good because it leaves them money to bring in another player, so it was very smart of them.”
Jordan Farmar, who took a pay cut this summer to leave Turkey and return to the NBA on a minimum-salary deal, has been a great bargain for the Lakers so far, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles. Farmar is only on a one-year contract, so if he keeps playing this well, it may prove difficult for L.A. to keep him beyond this season.

Eastern Notes: World Peace, Bucks, Rose, Hawks

September 19th, 2013 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

So far this morning, we've passed along word of Nerlens Noel's contract with the Sixers, and heard confirmation from the Raptors that they've signed three players to training camp deals. Here are a few more items from around the Eastern Conference:

Metta World Peace tells Dan Duggan of Newsday that he "got calls from Oklahoma and the Clippers and all these teams" when he was amnestied by the Lakers, but he's happy with his decision to sign with the Knicks.
Speaking at the Bucks Partner Summit in Milwaukee yesterday, future NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear that the city is in need of a new arena, writes Rich Kirchen of The Business Journal. "At the end of the day compared to other modern arenas in the league, this arena is a few hundred thousand square feet too small," Silver said. "It doesn’t have the sort of back-of-house space you need, doesn’t have the kinds of amenities we need."
Derrick Rose has said in the past that he has little interest in actively recruiting other players to the Bulls, and as he prepares to return from an ACL injury, he's sticking to that stance. "I don't recruit. If anyone wants to play with me, I don't mind playing with, it could be anyone in the NBA, but as far as recruiting, I never did and never will," Rose told Rappler.com (link via ESPNChicago.com).
Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld examines the Hawks' signing of Paul Millsap, which he views as one of the more underappreciated moves of the summer.

Odds & Ends: World Peace, Jennings, Barbosa

July 20th, 2013 at 12:19am CST by Chuck Myron

Metta World Peace tells Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News that he has no hard feelings toward the Lakers, who amnestied him last week. The former Ron Artest thinks the move was a shrewd business decision for the team, and while the Lakers will save some luxury tax money, the amnesty wound up helping World Peace's bank account, too. He'll receive his $7.7MM salary from the Lakers as well as the nearly $1.6MM he'll make from his contract with the Knicks this season, minus a small amount taken away from his Lakers paycheck because of set-off rights. There are plenty of other maneuvers, financial and otherwise, happening in the NBA, as we round up here:

Brandon Jennings is no lock to return to the Bucks, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, who says the team is still looking at other point guards.
The Mavs won't comment on a Brazilian report that the team has been in contact with free agent Leandro Barbosa, notes Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
The Rockets have drawn mention as one of the front-runners for Marcus Camby this week, and agent Rick Kaplan confirms to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston that the team is a leading candidate, referring to Houston as Camby's "adopted hometown" (All Twitter links).
Patrick O'Bryant, the ninth overall pick in the 2006 draft, is hoping to return to the NBA, but he's only drawn interest from foreign clubs so far the summer, reports Shams Charania of RealGM.com. O'Bryant last appeared in the Association with the Raptors in 2008/09.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov will likely lose upwards of $50MM this year as he presides over an NBA-record expenditure on the team's roster, writes Kurt Badenhausen of Forbes.com (hat tip to Nets Daily).
Shaun Powell of Sports on Earth previews next year's star-laden free agent class, arguing that no team has greater stakes on the outcome of the summer of 2014 than the Lakers do.
Mark Madsen earned a quick promotion after the Lakers hired him in May to coach their D-League team. The Lakers today officially named Madsen and Larry Lewis as assistants on coach Mike D'Antoni's staff.

Knicks Sign Metta World Peace

July 16th, 2013 at 3:57pm CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 3:57pm: The Knicks have officially signed World Peace, the team confirmed today (via Twitter).

MONDAY, 3:07pm: World Peace confirmed on NBA TV that he has agreed to sign with the Knicks, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

2:46pm: In spite of World Peace's denial, new reports on the agreement continue to trickle in, and Ron Artest Sr. has essentially confirmed the deal with multiple outlets, so it looks to me like it'll get done.

2:28pm: Despite multiple outlets reporting the agreement, World Peace has texted Sam Amick of USA Today to say it's not a done deal, and that he's "still talking to other people" (Twitter link).

2:14pm: Newsday's Al Iannazzone reports (via Twitter) that World Peace will receive the rest of the Knicks' mini MLE and will have a second-year player option, as I speculated below.

2:04pm: The Knicks and Metta World Peace have reached an agreement in principle on a two-year deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Sam Amick of USA Today reported earlier this afternoon that World Peace had met with the Knicks in Las Vegas and planned to sit down with other teams, but it appears as if those additional meetings won't be necessary.

We heard nearly a week ago that the Knicks would top World Peace's wish list if the Lakers were to amnesty him. Since then, the Lakers made the move official, and many more rumors about World Peace's preferred destinations surfaced. Various reports over the last week, including many that quoted MWP himself, indicated that he might sit out the 2013/14 season, end up on the Clippers, or play with a Chinese team.

Ultimately, it seems as if many of those quotes from World Peace were intended to ensure that he cleared waivers and was able to choose his own destiny. It's not clear yet whether the ex-Laker will receive the rest of the Knicks' mini mid-level exception, or if he'll sign for the minimum. Either way, he'll still earn more than the $7.73MM salary that the Lakers cleared from their cap. It wouldn't surprise me if the second year of his deal with the Knicks is a player option, giving him some security while allowing him to hit the open market next summer if he so chooses.

Contract Details: Ginobili, Knicks, Bogans

July 15th, 2013 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

CBA guru Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com passed along a few specific figures on some recently signed contracts today, including the new salary for the real winner of the Celtics/Nets blockbuster. Let's round up Deeks' updates….

Manu Ginobili's two-year contract with the Spurs will pay him $14.5MM over two seasons, and the first-year salary will be slightly higher than the second-year figure (Twitter links).
The Knicks used $1,591,350 of their mini mid-level exception to re-sign Pablo Prigioni, which leaves $1,591,650 for Metta World Peace (Twitter link).
C.J. Leslie's two-year, minimum-salary deal with the Knicks will guarantee him $200K for 2013/14, but is fully non-guaranteed for year two (Twitter link).
In a full blog post, Deeks goes into detail on Keith Bogans, the biggest beneficiary of the Celtics/Nets deal. Because he needed to be signed-and-traded to help match salaries, Bogans will receive a three-year contract. Only the first year is guaranteed, but for 2013/14, he'll earn a staggering $5,058,198.