As the trade deadline nears, the Los Angeles Lakers continue to explore moves that can either help them in the short-term, without giving up power forward Pau Gasol, or a bigger move that lands a long-term solution at point guard while better situating the team for the upcoming supertax as instituted by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The answer has yet to be decided but in the meantime, Lakers forward Metta World Peace has asked the NBA Player Association for instructions on how to file retirement papers. According to his agent David Bauman, Metta intends to finish out his contract (two remaining years at $7.3 million and $7.7 million, the latter an early-termination option for Peace) but is preparing for the possibility that the Lakers amnesty him this coming summer. Retirement would essentially be a threat to dissuade a team with cap room that might have designs on putting an amnesty claim in for Peace. Peace might prefer time off or even playing overseas rather than getting claimed by a team outside of his comfort zone. Back towards the end of the offseason, Los Angeles Clippers guard Chauncey Billups toyed with that same notion when he was waived by the New York Knicks. Billups initially threatened retirement but the Clippers took a chance, eventually winning over Chauncey before he went down with season-ending Achilles’ injury. Metta wants to control his own destiny as much as possible. Retirement would cost him $15 million in salary. It remains to be seen if that’s the kind of money Peace would leave on the table. To date, Peace has finally begun to overcome a very slow start. With improved conditioning, has his performance and impact has grown for the Lakers who are dominant home team but still extremely shaky on the road. The future is unclear as to how the Lakers proceed with the March 15th trade deadline. Peace, given his multi-year deal and 15% trade kicker, isn’t widely expected to be dealt. As the team builds for the future, the Amnesty Clause may make this Metta’s final season with the squad whether that leads to retirement or not.
