Metta World Peace Amnesty Chatter Ignores Lakers’ Unique Position

Wednesday, July 11th marks the official opening of the amnesty window—the collectively bargained period of time during which teams are allowed to wipe a players' salary from their cap sheet (provided said player inked their deal under the old collective bargaining agreement) to better maneuver their offseason plans. As such, amnesty rumors are abound; there's something about the prospect of removing a player's sizable salary from the roster that appears to bring out the armchair GM in all of us.

Elton Brand will reportedly be amnestied in short order, and per Marc Stein of ESPN.com, so too might Washington's Andray Blatche.

Amnesty scuttle: Hearing Wiz giving "renewed consideration" to releasing Andray Blatche through amnesty clause during July 11-17 window

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 10, 2012  

But considering the never-ending flutter of rumor and conjecture that shadows the Los Angeles Lakers, it should come as no surprise that Metta World Peace—the frequent scapegoat for all of the Lakers' problems —is so frequently a named possibility in most every discussion about the amnesty clause.

Blame World Peace's wobbly shooting, slowed lateral movement or the $15 million he's owed over the next two seasons, but all of it together would seem to make him a sensible amnesty choice—and to the uninitiated, a player who could be released for the sake of adding additional talent.

Only that's not exactly the case. Even if the Lakers were to amnesty World Peace, they'd have $73.3 million committed for the coming season—and that's before we account for the salary of Steve Nash and any other wing player(s) added to offset the departure of World Peace. That number is likely to only get higher in the following season, unless L.A. does something drastic and/or crazy like let Andrew Bynum walk in free agency.

This clearly isn't a team operating under normal fin...