Before you laugh hysterically, consider the source, then laugh some more.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace, has a hefty portfolio of quotes that will leave you scratching your head, his thought process is unique to say the least, so the fact that he believes there’s a chance the Lakers will sign him to contract extension shouldn’t surprise anyone.
According to NBA.com, the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year, won’t activate his player option for next season if it meant signing an extension with Los Angeles.
World Peace has a player option for 2013-14, the final year of his contract, at $7.7 million. He said his agent, Marc Cornstein, will approach the Lakers about an extension, but that will be a very short conversation unless the 33-year-old small forward is willing to take a severe pay cut. And it may be short no matter what.
If World Peace does not terminate the deal, he immediately becomes a candidate to be cut under the amnesty provision. If he does terminate, likely (one would hope) after conversations with team officials to gauge the chances of getting more years at a lot less money annually, it is nearly impossible to imagine the Lakers committing more than two seasons on a new deal to maintain the possible cap room in the summer of 2014.
World Peace, is really eager to get a deal done to extend his stay with the Lakers, but at the same time he isn’t sure if he’s willing to take a substantial pay cut and what the league-wide perspective of him is at this time.
“I think my agent is trying to see if he can get an extension to stay here in L.A.,” World Peace told NBA.com. “I’m really excited about the possibilities of staying here in L.A.”
“It’s too early to say those types of things right now,” he said Monday night at Oracle Arena, where the Warriors beat the Lakers 109-103. “It’s too early to say. I don’t know what the Lakers are thinking. I don’t know what anybody’s thinking. I don’t even know what other teams think. I don’t know what’s going on because I haven’t told my agent, ‘Hey, go out there and ask around’ and things like that. I don’t know what anybody’s thinking at this point in time. I just try to keep my game. I’m playing at a good level.”
World Peace’s crazy antics have gone down significantly in recent seasons, and he’s having a decent season numbers wise. However, he isn’t the defensive force that the Lakers brought him in to be, anymore, and his shot selection is atrocious far too often, so I don’t see the them bringing him back.