Lakers Free Agency Rumors: Lakers "seriously considering" signing Metta World Peace, according to report
Harrison Faigen
Could the Lakers really bring back the Artest formerly known as Ron?
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Silver Screen and Roll
Could the Los Angeles Lakers bring back World Peace? According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Lakers front office is "seriously considering" signing Metta World Peace as a free agent. World Peace spent most of the last two seasons playing overseas in China and Italy, and most recently played in the NBA during the 2013-14 season, spending 29 games with the New York Knicks and posting averages of 4.8 points and 2 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per game.

World Peace was claimed by the Knicks after the Lakers used the amnesty clause on him in 2013 in order to save a reported $15 million dollars. After signing with the Lakers in the 2009 offseason to replace the soon departing Trevor Ariza, the then Ron Artest averaged 11 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game for the Lakers as the team successfully defended its 2009 championship, winning a second consecutive title by defeating the Boston Celtics in the 2010 NBA finals. World Peace came up with a huge three-pointer late in Game 7 of that series, leading to one of the best press conferences of all-time:

World Peace would certainly be an entertaining presence to have around the Lakers this year, as well as another dose of nostalgia for fans as they prepare to say goodbye to Kobe Bryant. Most importantly, World Peace would provide more small forward depth for a team sorely lacking at the wing position. However, it is important to keep in mind that this is all just rumors at this point, with Wojnarowski reporting both that "there is no deal in place" as well as that there are "varying degrees of interest" among the team's brass about the return of World Peace.