Either the Lakers are getting better or they're getting older.
Los Angeles made the unsurprising move of keeping Metta World Peace on their 2015-16 roster and releasing second-year guard and Jabari Brown, according to The Los Angeles Times.
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"World Peace, who turns 36 next month, showed he could still play some defense, and earned extra points within the organization for mentoring young forward Julius Randle," The Times reported. "Brown, 22, showed some ability toward the end of last season, scoring 32 points against Sacramento, but his game was a little one-dimensional."
It's the second move in which the Lakers have opted to retain a veteran over a rookie -- keeping Robert Sacre and releasing rookie Robert Upshaw, who will play for Lakers' D-League team, according to Pro Basketball Talk.
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For a team caught between building for the future around forward Randle and guards D'Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson and keeping 37-year-old Kobe Bryant around for a last hurrah, Los Angeles is getting its share of criticism for the moves. They certainly give the appearance that L.A. expects to be a lot more competitive this year.
"The question is why the Lakers would take the older player at the end of his career over the second year player -- that's not how rebuilding teams do things. Parker may not pan out, there were questions about his ability to play off the ball in the Lakers offense, but he certainly has a better shot at being part of the future than MWP," Pro Basketball Talk reported in another article. "The Lakers decided to give their last couple roster spots to veterans World Peace and Robert Sacre over Robert Upshaw (in large part due to Upshaw's personal issues).
"You can try to defend the individual moves, and they are smaller moves, but this is not the pattern of a team attempting to build itself up to be a place that top free agents will want to come and play. Players and free agents notice this stuff."
But if World Peace can continue to mentor Randle and be a go-between for Kobe and the rest of the Lakers and keep the team from imploding, his value will exceed anything Brown might add.
It's a gamble, but a more calculated on than the Lakers are getting credit for.
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