Around The World (Wide Web): MWP, NBA Draft, Brian Shaw,

From Daniel Buerge, Lakers Nation: After his surprise announcement this morning (that ended up just being him announcing a reality show with Terrell Owens), it was then announced that he will exercise his player option to remain with the Lakers for next season. According to Sam Amick of USA Today, World Peace will be back with the Lakers next season (assuming the team doesn’t use their Amnesty option).”According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the veteran small forward will play out the final year of his contract (worth $7.7 million) rather than exercise the early termination option on his deal.”There were rumors that World Peace might consider walking away from the final year of his deal, but few expected him to turn down nearly $8 million, a number he wouldn’t come close to receiving if he was to be a free agent and picked up by another team.

From Staff And Wire Reports, LA Times: A person with knowledge of the negotiations told the Associated Press that Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw has agreed to succeed George Karl as coach of theDenver Nuggets. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday night because the deal hadn’t been officially announced. The Nuggets called a news conference for Tuesday afternoon to introduce their new coach. The Denver Post first reported the agreement with Shaw, and the former Phil Jackson pupil told the newspaper he has been “prepared by the best of the best” for his first NBA head coaching job.

From Dave McMenamin, ESPN LA: While two former No. 1 picks in LeBron James and Tim Duncan dominated and defined the NBA Finals for their respective teams, the series wouldn’t have been what it was without a couple of second-round picks. Manu Ginobili, selected No. 57 by San Antonio in 1999, was brilliant in Game 5 of the Finals and gave the Spurs a 3-2 series lead by putting up 24 points and 10 assists. Mario Chalmers, who went No. 34 in 2008 to Minnesota before being traded to Miami, came up huge in all three of the Heat’s home wins and averaged 17.7 points in Games 2, 6 and 7 to help the Heat to the title. In Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Lakers will find themselves looking for a similar impact player in the second round. For the sixth straight year, the Lakers do not have a first round pick.

From Ben R, Silver Screen & Roll: To say that mock drafts are an inexact science goes without saying. Ultimately, they are collections of educated guesses and pretty much worthless in predictive value aside from obvious choices at the top of the order. And this year, even that last item is not the case, as the Cavaliers debate whether to pick Nerlens Noel, Alex Len, or a number of other options. All of this notwithstanding, merely by attempting to make sense of a crapshoot of a process, we stir the imagination and at least introduce the possibilities for what your team will be looking at in your range, which is all you can ask for on draft night.

Metta’s Announcement 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-nwh9CFrW0U