Metta World Peace Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Lakers Notes: Scott, Kobe, World Peace

September 18th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers didn’t land a marquee free agent this summer, but coach Byron Scott is nonetheless impressed with the upgrades the team made, as he explains to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register in a wide-ranging Q&A. The team drafted D’Angelo Russell No. 2 overall, struck deals with seven free agents and traded for Roy Hibbert.

“I don’t look at the summer as a big disappointment, to be honest with you,” Scott said. “We missed on a guy we were after, obviously, in LaMarcus [Aldridge, who signed with the Spurs]. But to get Roy and to get Lou Williams and to get Brandon Bass, I think [GM] Mitch [Kupchak] did a hell of a job of recovering and making it a summer that you kind of looked back and said, ‘Man, that’s a pretty good recovery.’ I’m happy with the roster we have. We’ve got competition it seems like at every position, which I think is going to be fun to watch in training camp. We’re still very, very young, with the exception, obviously, of [37-year-old] Kobe [Bryant], so I’m excited about that.”

Scott pledged to Oram that he’d limit Bryant’s minutes and do whatever he could to ensure the legend can avoid injury and “go out standing” if this is indeed his last season. See more from the coach amid our check on the purple-and-gold:

Scott is unsure if the Lakers will sign Metta World Peace, reportedly a strong possibility, but Scott seems high on what World Peace has done for Julius Randle in their workouts together so far, as Oram relays in the same piece. “He’s made Julius work which I think is great,” Scott said in part. “Then when the game is over he’s always talking to Julius about certain things that he feels Julius can do better. So he’s been a good mentor for him, he’s been great for the other guys to see him out here playing the way he’s been playing. He’s still in great great shape his body looks fantastic and he’s been great as far as seeing him running up and down the floor.”
Eric Saar of Basketball Insiders goes along with many of his colleagues who take a pessimistic view on the Lakers for this season, with Basketball Insiders scribe Alex Kennedy opining that there’s “no way” the Lakers can make the playoffs with their existing roster, given the competition. Saar thinks the Lakers have a shot to make the playoffs in a year or two, though that might be enough for executive VP of basketball operations Jim Buss, since sister and co-owner Jeanie Buss has said she’ll hold him to his pledge to resign if the team isn’t contending for a title by the spring of 2017.

Lakers Rumors: Upshaw, Huertas, World Peace

September 14th, 2015 at 9:22pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Robert Upshaw is unlikely to make the Lakers’ opening-night roster, according to Bill Oram of the Orange County Register. The signing of the center on Monday increases the Lakers’ training camp roster to 18 players, though only 12 have fully guaranteed deals. Marcelo Huertas should make the cut, since the Brazilian shooting guard did not sign with the Lakers to play in the D-League or get released, Oram continues. Huertas, who played for FC Barcelona the past four seasons, inked a one-year deal with the team earlier this month. Metta World Peace would be the 15th man on the roster if he’s signed by the club, Oram adds (All Twitter links). There’s a good chance that the veteran small forward, who has been working out at the team’s practice facility, will come to an agreement with the club before camp.

In other news regarding the Lakers:

Upshaw received a $35K guarantee on his two-year minimum contract, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. His $525,093 salary this season would be fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster January 10th. His second-year salary of $874,636 does not include any guarantees, Pincus adds. The 21-year-old Upshaw averaged 1.4 points and 2.2 rebounds with the Lakers’ summer league squad in Las Vegas.
The additions of Roy Hibbert, Lou Williams and Brandon Bass are not conducive to the Lakers’ effort to rebuild because they’ll take minutes away from younger players, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders opines in the website’s preview of the team. After failing to sign a high-profile free agent, the Lakers added those veterans to save face and give the appearance they want to compete this year, in part to appease Kobe Bryant, Kennedy adds. In the same piece, Basketball Insiders’ Eric Saar takes a somewhat more optimistic view, concluding that the growing core of young players gives the franchise a brighter future than it’s had in recent years.

Lakers Mull Signing Metta World Peace

September 14th, 2015 at 2:49pm CST by Dana Gauruder

SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2:49pm: It’s more likely that World Peace will join the Lakers than it is that he won’t, as Bill Oram of the Orange County Register says he’s been told (Twitter link). That’s in spite of World Peace’s recent comments in which he downplayed the idea of rejoining the team.

6:20pm: A source close to World Peace has informed Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News (on Twitter) that there is confidence a deal with the Lakers will happen.

SEPTEMBER 9TH, 3:54pm: World Peace has been working out daily at the Lakers’ practice facility, and the two sides appear to be inching closer to agreeing to a one-year pact, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports relays (on Twitter).

AUGUST 25TH, 7:56am: The sides have engaged in “casual conversations” about a would-be return for World Peace, an executive told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. Bryant would be on board with the forward’s return but the Lakers star will let the front office decide whether to make it happen, another source told Turner.

AUGUST 24TH, 6:54pm: The Lakers are seriously considering signing veteran forward Metta World Peace to a one-year deal, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. There’s no deal in place, Wojnarowski continues, and there are varying degrees of interest within the Lakers organization about bringing him back. World Peace has been in the Lakers’ practice facility this offseason practicing with the team’s players, including 2014 first-round pick Julius Randle, sources told Wojnarowski.

The 35-year-old did not play in the NBA last season. He appeared in 29 games with the Knicks in 2013/14. Last season, he played 15 games for the Sichuan Blue Whales in the Chinese Basketball Association before a knee injury sidelined him. He finished out the season with Pallacanestro Cantu in the Italian League, averaging 13.3 points and 4.0 rebounds.

Of course, World Peace has a history with the Lakers organization, playing four seasons with them before joining the Knicks after Los Angeles used the amnesty provision to cut him loose. He appeared in 75 games with them in his last season there in 2012/13, averaging 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists while starting 66 games. Overall, World Peace started 270 games during those four seasons with the Lakers, as well as 41 postseason starts.

The Lakers already have 12 guaranteed contracts, along with three partial or non-guaranteed contracts, for the upcoming season. They’d have to dip into their room exception of $2.814MM if it takes more than the minimum salary to sign World Peace. Given the composition of their roster, World Peace would most likely back up Kobe Bryant at small forward if they utilize a young, dynamic backcourt of lottery pick D’Angelo Russell and last year’s breakout rookie, Jordan Clarkson.

Lakers Rumors: World Peace, Huertas, Analytics

September 13th, 2015 at 11:31am CST by Arthur Hill

Former Laker Metta World Peace, whom the team has reportedly been considering signing again, told Mitch Abramson of The New York Daily News he is ready to return to the NBA. However, World Peace added that he hasn’t talked to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak about rejoining the team, and that although his agent has been contacting teams throughout the league, there has been little interest. The 35-year-old last played in the NBA for the Knicks in 2013/14. “With my career being up and down,” he said, “some teams are like, ‘Can we use Metta World Peace, where is he going to fit in? Is he going to be good for the rookies? Can he still play?’ I’m still one of the best small forwards in the world so that’s not a question. But the question is can I actually fit into a team and can a coach coach me? Those are realistic questions and it’s cool.”

There’s more out of Los Angeles:

At age 32, Marcelo Huertas is looking forward to his first shot at the NBA with the Lakers, writes Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times. The Brazilian point guard signed a one-year deal with the team Wednesday and said he can help the Lakers with his “ability to control a team without having to score.” He will have to compete for a spot on the roster, as Los Angeles has 16 other players under contract, with 12 fully guaranteed and two partially guaranteed, plus a possible partially guaranteed deal for Robert Upshaw. “I was under contract for the last six years and never had the chance to leave Europe without paying a big buyout,” Huertas said, “so this was the year I finished contract and I had a real chance to jump to the NBA.”
The move of Clay Moser to assistant coach/director of basketball strategy shows the Lakers are giving more weight to the analytic side of the game, according to Sam Amick of USA Today. Moser will team with assistant GM Glenn Carraro to form a bridge between the team’s analytics department and the coaching staff. Kupchak defended the organization’s maligned analytics performace. “The five people that we talked about who are in charge of accumulating, acquiring and interpreting the data, I feel they measure up to anybody in the league,” he said. “I would put them against anybody in the league … I would not hesitate to put our department in a debate with any other [analytics] department [of another team].”

Lakers Notes: World Peace, Woolridge, Kobe

September 12th, 2015 at 2:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Metta World Peace has been working out at the Lakers’ practice facility recently, sparking talk that he was eyeing a return to the team. With a roster packed with young players, GM Mitch Kupchak has been keeping tabs on the veteran’s progress, though he’s unsure if the team will look to ink World Peace to a training camp pact, Sam Amick of USA Today writes. “I love the guy,” Kupchak said. “I really do. Last year, he was in Europe, he was in China. [Then] he coached his daughter’s middle school or high school team to a championship. He was here to work out when he got back from Europe playing, and then he’d come in through the summer. He’s been coming in on a regular basis. I do know that he wants to play, and that’s where we are.”

As for a potential contract offer to World Peace, Kupchak said, “We’ve got a couple more weeks [until training camp]. Our roster’s not complete. And we’ll just take it from there. Nothing’s imminent in terms of a signing anytime soon, but it’s hard not to watch a guy when he’s in your gym every day going up and down the court, working with young guys, playing hard. Part of me says he can still play, so I don’t know where we’re going to end up on it. But that’s kind of where it is.”

Here’s more from Los Angeles:

Kupchak also gave a status update on Kobe Bryant‘s recovery from rotator cuff surgery, relaying that the team expects him to be ready to go once training camp commences, Amick adds in the same piece. “My understanding is that he’ll be ready for camp,” said Kupchak. “Knowing Kobe, he will try to participate in every practice in camp. But myself and [coach] Byron [Scott] are going to have something to say about that. So I’m sure there will be a practice or two or three where we won’t let him practice, but I do expect him to be full bore at camp.”
Unrestricted free agent small forward Renaldo Woolridge has also been working out at the team’s facility after spending a second consecutive Summer playing for the franchise’s entry in the Las Vegas Summer League, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The Lakers currently have 17 players on their roster, so the franchise does have space to add the 25-year-old for training camp if they so desire. That number doesn’t include center Robert Upshaw, whose status with the team still remains unclear.
The Lakers have promoted Jesse Buss to assistant GM, Ryan West is now the Lakers’ director of player personnel, and assistant coach Clay Moser will additionally serve as director of basketball strategy, Pincus, writing for the Los Angeles Times, relays.

L.A. Notes: World Peace, Russell, Clippers

August 30th, 2015 at 3:15pm CST by Will Joseph

If the Lakers sign Metta World Peace, which they are thinking about doing, as reports indicate, the primary job for the 15-year NBA veteran who turns 36 in November would be to mentor forward Julius Randle, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. Randle, the Lakers’ first round draft pick in 2014, suffered a broken leg in his NBA debut last season, but is on track to be recovered by the start of the 2015/16 season.

Here’s more news out of Los Angeles:

D’Angelo Russell, who reportedly has Lakers‘ part-owner Jim Buss excited about the upcoming season, plans to meet with current star Kobe Bryant and retired star Steve Nash to pick their brains about how to stick around in the league, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News reports.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer turned down a $60MM per year offer for local TV rights and is going ahead with a plan to start his own streaming network, reports Claire Atkinson of the New York Post. While there has been talk since last year of the Clippers using a streaming service, the belief is that FOX Sports will find a way to keep them, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com tweets. Atkinson cites experts who doubt that the 59-year-old owner would be able to pull it off. To make $60MM in revenue, the Clippers would have to sign up around 10% of the city’s five million households and get a pretty high price for the service, Atkinson writes.

Pacific Notes: Jordan, World Peace, Barnes

August 26th, 2015 at 10:24am CST by Chuck Myron

The violation of NBA rules against third-party endorsement offers in a pitch the Clippers made to DeAndre Jordan this summer was unintentional, owner Steve Ballmer wrote in an internal memo he sent to members of the Clippers organization that Dan Woike of the Orange County Register obtained. The league fined the Clippers $250K, reportedly for offering Jordan a endorsement deal with Lexus that would pay the center $200K annually.

“As I shared with everyone on day one of purchasing the Team, being part of the Clippers family means operating with the highest integrity,” Ballmer wrote in part. “We believed we were doing this the right way, and any circumvention was inadvertent. In our effort to support our players in every way possible, we as an organization must be diligent in complying with the CBA.”

See more from around the Pacific Division:

Metta World Peace told TMZ Sports that he’s unaware if the Lakers are thinking about signing him, as reports indicate. The 15-year NBA veteran who turns 36 in November nonetheless expressed interest in joining the team.
The four-year, $52MM extension deal Michael Kidd-Gilchrist reportedly has with the Hornets will affect extension negotiations between the Warriors and Harrison Barnes, opines Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. Kidd-Gilchrist has a decent chance to prove more valuable than Barnes in the long run, but the playoff success and durability of Barnes leads Kawakami to second the belief of TNT’s David Aldridge that Barnes and agent Jeff Wechsler will target salaries of at least $15MM (Twitter link). Kawakami suggests $14MM a year as a settling point but believes the threat of a $17-18MM offer sheet from another team looms if the Warriors let him enter restricted free agency next summer.
Kawakami suggests in the same piece that market price for Festus Ezeli would be between $9-11MM. GM Bob Myers recently told Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com that the Warriors would consider the idea of an extension for the backup center, and the team would indeed sign Ezeli to an extension if he’s willing to do so at an agreeable price, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported this week.

And-Ones: Pistons, World Peace, Calderon

March 27th, 2015 at 10:30pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There’s a chance that soon-to-be free agents Kyle Singler and Jonas Jerebko return to Detroit this summer, but it’s unlikely either winds up back with the Pistons, who traded them both away at the deadline, MLive’s David Mayo argues in his weekly mailbag. Mayo also figures Tayshaun Prince will leave in free agency while the team retains Anthony Tolliver on his partially guaranteed contract next season.

Here’s more from around the league:

Metta World Peace, 35, says that he won’t quit playing professionally until he’s 40 years old, Daniella Matar of NBA.com writes. The veteran recently inked a deal with Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantù for the remainder of the season. ”I always wanted to play in Europe for a long time,” World Peace said. ”They move the ball and they move bodies, and that’s what I like doing. I’m looking forward to playing team basketball and being smart as well as scoring. I can score but I’m excited about team basketball.”
With the season winding down a number of coaches could soon find themselves out of work. Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com runs down six top prospects who could be hired as replacements. Arnovitz’s list includes Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, Arizona coach Sean Miller, and Spurs assistant Ime Udoka.
Knicks guard Jose Calderon is expected to be in a walking boot for another 10 days, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. Calderon still hopes to return to action this season, but he admitted that scenario was unlikely, Begley adds. The 33-year-old averaged 9.1 points and 4.7 assists while shooting a career-low 41.5% from the field for New York this season.
The Rockets announced that Donatas Motiejunas will be restricted from basketball activities for one to two weeks, and he’ll be reevaluated at that time. The forward is suffering from lower back issues. In 71 games this season, including 62 starts, the seven-footer is averaging 12.0 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 28.7 minutes per contest.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Mudiay, Thomas, Orton

March 26th, 2015 at 9:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Goran Dragic was a bit shocked that the Suns dealt his former teammate Isaiah Thomas to the Celtics at this season’s trade deadline, Ben Rohrbach of WEEI 93.7 FM writes. “If I’m honest, I was a little bit surprised, especially because I asked for the trade,” said Dragic. “But that’s how the NBA goes. It’s a business. Unfortunately, we had three point guards at the same position and only one ball, so it’s kind of hard to satisfy everybody.”

Presumably, Dragic was talking about his request that the Suns trade him, as they ultimately did when they sent him to the Heat, rather than suggesting that he asked the Suns to trade Thomas, though that’s not entirely clear. Here’s more from around the league:

Metta World Peace‘s deal for the remainder of the season with Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantù is worth approximately $40K plus bonuses, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports.
Projected 2015 lottery pick Emmanuel Mudiay has parted ways with agent Raymond Brothers, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress reports (Twitter link). The guard will now be represented by Jason Martin and Dwon Clifton of Rival Sports Group, Givony adds. Mudiay is currently the No. 3 ranked prospect according to DraftExpress and ESPN.com.
Daniel Orton, who appeared in 22 contest for the Sixers during the 2013/14 campaign, doesn’t look back at his time in Philadelphia fondly, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Orton discussed what it was like to go from the Thunder organization to the Sixers’, saying, “Leaving the Thunder, you see the greater side of the NBA. I went into Philly and a situation where it was the total opposite. You got a team just trying to rebuild basically from scratch and blowing up anytime you had something going good. So you definitely learn the business side of it.” Orton has played in China and the Philippines this season after attending training camp with the Wizards.

Metta World Peace Signs To Play In Italy

March 24th, 2015 at 8:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Metta World Peace has signed a contract with Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantù for the remainder of the season, the team announced (Twitter link). The former Ron Artest’s brother, Daniel Artest, said this weekend that the 15-year NBA veteran would sign with the team, though Cantù’s coach wouldn’t confirm the news, saying only that the club was in talks with World Peace. The 35-year-old forward hooked up with Octagon Europe and agent Georgios Dimitropulos to facilitate the deal, as Dimitropulos tweets (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).

It’s the second overseas excursion this season for World Peace, who played 15 games with China’s Sichuan Blue Whales after signing with the team in August. He had reportedly been seeking deals with the Knicks, Lakers and Clippers over the summer, and while the Knicks apparently considered the possibility, no deal materialized, and World Peace made it clear once the season started that he no longer wanted to play for the Knicks or the Lakers. There appeared to be some level of interest from the Clippers in a late-season deal, but coach/executive Doc Rivers downplayed that, and now it appears World Peace is off the table.

World Peace put up 19.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game in China this year after a season of career lows in New York that ended shortly before former coach Phil Jackson took over as team president. The 2003/04 Defensive Player of the Year regretted buying out his contract before the Zen Master arrived in New York, but a reunion never came to pass. A four-year tenure with the Lakers ended in 2013 when the team used the amnesty clause to waive him.