NBA Free Agents Rumors: Los Angeles Lakers To Sign Metta World Peace?
The Los Angeles Lakers are not yet done tweaking their roster for the 2015-16 NBA season after missing the playoffs for two consecutive years.
According to Yahoo Sports, the Lakers are looking to add a veteran to their team and are in talks with Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, for a possible deal before the start of the new season.
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski said that the Lakers are looking to sign World Peace to a one-year contract. The two sides had talks over the past several days, but no deal is imminent at this point.
World Peace, who has played 15 seasons in the league since he was picked 16th overall during the 1999 NBA Draft, played four seasons in Los Angeles before has was amnestied by the Lakers, which led to a move to the New York Knicks during the 2013-14 season.
The Lakers are looking to add another small forward to improve their depth at the three spot, which is composed of Nick Young and Anthony Brown. Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant could also play small forward next season after the team acquired guards D'Angelo Russell during the draft and Louis Williams via free agency.
According to the report, World Peace has been working out in the Lakers' practice facility with incoming sophomore Julius Randle over the past several weeks.
World Peace, who holds a career average of 13.7 points on top of 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists, played 15 games for the Sichuan Blue Whales in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Following his stint in China, World Peace signed with Italian club Pallacanestro Cantu in March, but failed to get a new deal from the Lega Basket Serie A team in July. Earlier this year, World Peace said that he has matured significantly over the past several years after being involved in numerous controversies earlier in his career.
"Now the mentality is different from when I was younger. I always had the street mentality, but when you're older, you get more mature," World Peace told ESPN. "When you play angry you can't focus. I've got five more years to have a great time, so I will be playing with a lot of fire but not anger, just passion."
World Peace added that he is planning to play competitive basketball until he turns 40 years old.
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