On July 11, teams in the league can begin to officially sign free agents and amnesty players. A lot of players have already agreed to new deals that will be signed on this day. The Los Angeles Lakers will be able to make the trade for Steve Nash official and consider using the amnesty clause.
There are plenty of players currently on the Lakers roster that will be amnesty candidates over the next few years. Players like Pau Gasol and even Kobe Bryant. Obviously, Kobe getting amnestied is a stretch, but still entirely possible.
The real candidate to be amnestied by the Lakers between the dates of July 11 to 17 is Metta World Peace. With World Peace scheduled to make $7.2 million next season and $7.7 million the season after that, the Lakers may seriously consider using the amnesty clause on World Peace if they can’t trade him over the next week or so.
ESPN Insider Larry Coon believes that World Peace is the player on the Lakers roster that is most likely to be amnestied as of July 11:
“Mitch Kupchak has been trying to move World Peace, and if he fails it’s possible he will use the amnesty clause in order to take a bite out of the team’s tax bill.”
Rumors of World Peace being on the trading block began heading into the 2012 NBA Draft. The veteran forward was linked to a deal where the Lakers were looking to acquire a late first round pick. The deal never went down, but World Peace may still be on the block.
Another proposed deal had World Peace headed to the Orlando Magic along with Andrew Bynum in exchange for Dwight Howard. Obviously, that deal never came to fruition either, and World Peace’s fate in Los Angeles still hangs in the balance.