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NBA Free Agents 2011: Lakers Have Amnesty Options

Shannon Brown is a key unrestricted free agent that the team will likely try to re-sign, though the Lakers will have options via amnesty.

With the new amnesty clause in the NBA, teams like the Los Angeles Lakers have some options to consider to bolster their roster for the 2011-2012 season. According to Hoops World Alex Kennedy, there are a number of players the team could consider waiving: 

Several league sources have speculated that the Lakers will use the amnesty clause on Ron Artest, but I think Luke Walton makes more sense.
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The Lakers certainly have a considerably amount of money locked up between those two guys for the upcoming season, with Artest set to make $6.79 million and Walton earning $5.68 million in the 2011-12 season. Kennedy also proposes another possibly route the Lakers could take via amnesty as well: 

The best case scenario for Lakers is Luke Walton retiring due to his back issues. Then, they could amnesty Metta World Peace or Steve Blake.
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With the Lakers having not much in regards to free agents on the Purple and Gold, they might be able to make some noise in the free agent market with the extra cash afforded them after dropping an Artest, Walton, or Blake. True, Walton's back is serious enough to force retirement, which would be great for the Lakers (terrible for Luke though). Hopefully it won't have to come to that. 

For more on the Lakers head over to Silver Screen and Roll.