Metta World Peace is back with the Los Angeles Lakers after a year of playing overseas.
As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the 34-year old free agent has finally reached an agreement with the team after training with them all summer.
"I'm excited for Metta to be rejoining the Lakers in this next chapter in his career," his agent David Bauman told Yahoo Sports. "Metta is looking forward to working with Kobe and younger players to help the Lakers now and in the future. Los Angeles and the Lakers have always held a special place in Metta's heart."
Before officially signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, the former Defensive Player of The Year was already being rumored to sign with a team earlier this year.
Fans may recall Metta World Peace helping the Lakers win a championship way back in 2010 before being amnestied in 2013. Afterwards, he played for the New York Knicks in 29 games in the 2013-2014 season, before being waived in February, the SB Nation has learned.
World Peace was also reported to have grown incredibly close with Lakers forward, Julius Randle. Serving as both a mentor and a workout buddy, Randle and World Peace were seen training very closely all summer.
However, apart from being a veteran presence in the Lakers' young line-up, most critics are not expecting much production from the aging forward.
With less than 400 minutes played with the Knicks and almost two years away from the NBA, World Peace's value as a player is obviously diminishing.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the Lakers now have a total of 19 players in their roster — four more than the regular season maximum. But it seems that World Peace's spot is almost secure as he has the backing of general manager Mitch Kupchak.
"I think he'd be great in the locker room with young players, but we have to be careful not to use a roster spot too early because we have a lot of young kids ... that we're going to bring to camp," said Kupchak.
Video Credit to eldhand.
