The LA Lakers are reportedly considering bringing back Metta World Peace on a free agent deal to add depth to the roster and this comes as Michael Frazier has signed to join players like Jabari Brown, Tarik Black, Robert Upshaw and Jonathan Holmes, who will be competing for a spot on the team in training camp this summer.
The Lakers have been looking to add some more depth to the roster this offseason on the backend and Peace, formerly Ron Artest, would likely be a bench option if he actually signed. This offseason the team added Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass, D'Angelo Russell and Lou Williams and now they could bring back a former fan favorite. According to Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports, the Lakers are "discussing the possibility" of signing Artest to a one-year contract.
Wojnarowski reports that a deal is not currently close to happening, but that there have been "talks between the Lakers and World Peace's representatives" about a contract. Woj also reports that there are "varying degrees of interest" among people in the organization about bringing back Artest and Yahoo reports that World Peace has been working out in the practice facility during the offseason. The Lakers roster has had some youth in spots and adding a veteran could be good for Kobe Bryant and the bench.
Last year World Peace played professionally in Italy and averaged 13.3 points a game and he likely would be a bench depth option for the Lakers. The Lakers have continued to make some smaller moves this summer, as the team has announced the signing of Michael Frazier to a contract after being an unrestricted free agent out of Florida. There were reports last week the sides agreed, but this is the first confirmation of the deal from the Lakers.
Frazier is 21 and he comes in after playing for the Warriors in the summer league and averaging nearly five points per game in six games. Frazier played for Florida for three years and averaged 12.1 points and 1.4 assists last season and the Los Angeles Times reports that the deal will have $50,000 guaranteed. Eric Pincus writes that the Lakers are going to bring around 17 players into camp this year and they will have 3-5 players battling for roster spots.
The Times writes that both Jabari Brown and Tarik Black have non-guaranteed contracts for their second years and they will compete with Holmes and possibly Upshaw for a roster spot. Mitch Kupchak has said that Upshaw may not factor into things yet and the team also now could bring in World Peace on a deal. The team reportedly is also bringing in Jonathan Holmes to camp he will compete for roster spot along with Frazier. Pincus writes that the young players could end up in the D-League for the Lakers if they do not make the team in camp.
