The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers declined to use their "amnesty clause" before tonight's deadline.
The amnesty clause is a new part of the current collective bargaining agreement, and it means a team can waive a player who was on their roster last summer without having to pay luxury taxes on the salary. Rumblings around the league believed that if the Lakers were to amnesty anyone it would be Metta World Peace who has two more years on his contract worth $15 million.
If a team amnesties a player they still have to pay the player his salary that was due.
World Peace had one of his worst offensive seasons to date, averaging a career-low 7.7 points a game. On court problems flared up again when the league suspended him seven games for delivering a vicious elbow to the head of Oklahoma City guard James Harden.
Next year, the Lakers will be eligible to use the amnesty provision on Kobe Bryant (owed $30.5 million), Pau Gasol ($19.3 million), World Peace ($7.7 million), and Steve Blake ($4 million) among others.
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