Metta World Peace Discussion: All aboard the Peace train!

Hey, I remember this guy!!!

 

This guy u say huh

 

this lol

 

Damn it Woj, why'd you have to tease me with this. As irrational as this is, now I really want it to happen!

 

Thinking about Ron Ron brought back memories of this: Maybe there's a sequel

 

A case for NOT bringing Metta Back. The part in RED is what several have brought up on here.

Link to article below
The Lakers shouldn't bring Metta World Peace back, even if he's a fan favorite

He might be a fan favorite, but bringing Metta World Peace back at this point doesn't make much sense for the Lakers.


An unexpected Woj bomb hit Lakerland Monday night. Metta World Piece, proverbial friend of the Pandas, may be reuniting with the Purple and Gold next season. Discussions between the Lakers and World Peace remain informal and preliminary. However, if the team does bring back the mercurial member of its 2010 championship squad, it's worth considering just how he would fit within the roster at large.

The Rationale

Bringing back Metta makes sense at a basic level. The Lakers are short on legitimate small forwards outside of newly drafted rookie Anthony Brown. Kobe Bryant and Nick Young are currently projected to spend large amounts of time at the three, but the team could use an extra body to round out that position's depth. Up to this point it has been my hope that Jonathan Holmes and Anthony Brown, when not in the D-league, would function in this role due to their youth and upside.

In addition, Metta could spend time as a small ball power forward. Ron is strong enough to handle the responsibilities of a power forward but quick enough to keep up with stretch fours on defense. He's a career 34.1 percent three-point shooter and has the ability to stretch the floor on offense. As the league trends toward more pace and space lineups, Ron could serve a somewhat-useful role within that mold.

Redundancy

Bringing Metta back on a non-guaranteed one-year deal could significantly increase competition at training camp, His presence could also provide some "toughness" tutelage for some of the younger players like Julius Randle. There isn't anything necessarily wrong with that, but the front office supposedly already made free agent acquisitions to serve this need.

World Peace has worked out with Randle at the Lakers practice facility, noting how strong the returning rookie was. However, Brandon Bass was theoretically already brought in to do a lot of this type of work. Bass was positioned as a reasonable level of competition for minutes at power forward while helping mentor the second-year prospect.

The real consequence of World Peace's added presence would simply be an additional level of competition for playing time throughout the roster.

Too many mouths to feed

For whatever merits bringing World Peace back might serve in a general sense, the potential negatives far outweigh them. The Lakers already have a surplus of power forwards vying for time. While I don't mind the Brandon Bass signing, I was already wary of it potentially cutting into Randle's playing time or supplanting him from the starting lineup altogether. Bringing in World Peace as a potential stretch four would further cut into Julius' minutes.

Even if World Peace were brought in to function exclusively as a small forward, it would still have adverse effects. Metta could potentially spell Kobe at the three and shift him back down to his natural shooting guard position. However, this would bite into D'Angelo Russell's playing time and cost him much needed minutes during his rookie campaign, and would also trickle into Jordan Clarkson's minutes. World Peace would probably not spend all that much time on the floor if he were to be signed and make the roster. However, there are simply too many mouths to feed already at the positions he is best posited for.

This season's chief goal isn't a deep playoffs run or to make the playoffs at all, frankly. The franchise desperately needs to develop the team's new young core of Randle, Clarkson, and Russell. That means dedicating playing time to the core and allowing them to grow while making mistakes together.

I simply don't trust Byron Scott to allow that process to occur if he has a Ronnie Price-type asset available to him, in the form of Metta World Peace, to provide veteran minutes. There were far too many games last season when Scott elected to play veterans for elongated stretches at the cost of minutes for younger players.

World Peace is 35 years old and nowhere near his former Defensive Player of the Year level. His durability is questionable at best and he played in only 29 games during his last NBA season, despite the proper shape he appeared to be in during this summer's Nike Drew League exhibition games in Los Angeles.

It simply doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to bring Metta back at a time when developing the team's core is by far the biggest priority of the season. Metta will always be a fan favorite, but here's hoping the front office passes on World Peace this season.

 

I think the answer to the first question is an easy Y-E-S. the fact that he's working with Randle definitely supports that.

I think in his mind he has a couple years of basketball left, whether that's here or China. But at the same time, I still see him as a Laker and I think he sees himself the same way. Not as a Knick. Not as a...whatever the team's name is he played for in China. He's a Laker. He lives in LA, he is still around every chance he gets. He's on good terms with management and Kobe. He loves the fan base.

I think the love he has for the team/city/fans + it being home off sets the MPG he's looking for to a degree. And I'm sure Scott would be up front with him. You want those minutes? Earn them. If he can turn back the clock and can contribute 30 MPG, good for him. We aren't seriously developing anything at SF who will ever start in the NBA, so if his stars align, he's not doing us any damage. We need to put a winning product on the floor anyhow. Now everyone knows that's not happening. I think at best, 15 MPG and a fun season of ups and downs, highlights and cringe worthy lowlights is what we can expect. But his contributions when he's not in the game would be invaluable. Even if he never says a word to the rooks or works with Randle again, just them being able to see the level of preparation and intensity he brings to practice and to the game itself is something that when dialed in can even impress Kobe.

 

Reading Pincus tweets, he is saying there is a 'real chance' that we sign Metta...

 

Do it Mitch, and then put his locker right next to Upshaw's if he has one.

 

Don't think he's ready for that. He might be in a few years, but that's 3 years of lost development we don't have to throw away. It's a give and take way of satisfying both parties. What he can do for Randle, the team intensity, attitude, toughness, and defensive culture he brings (even if he can't stop anyone anymore) is well worth a roster spot and is 10x more valuable than whoever else is in contention for a final roster spot.

 

That's what I would expect. Do it, Mitch!

 

Throw Upshaw in too, not so much for BBall skills as their games are so different, but about life and how to channel that aggression and rebel tendencies in the NBA to be able to have a long career. He played with Odom and won a championship with him and has also seen first hand what happened to him because of mental weakness (following failed C. Paul trade) and also substance abuse, and Ron came from mean streets growing up.