Lakers: Where Does Nick Young Fit On This Team?
The Los Angeles Lakers are headed towards a new era, but does that era include Nick Young?
Upon signing Nick Young to a four year, $21.5 million contract in 2014, the Los Angeles Lakers assumed that they had struck gold. Young was coming off a season in which he averaged a career high 17.9 points per game for the purple and gold. At the time, it was a perfect match for both parties. The Lakers seemingly had found a second consistent scoring option to flank the aging Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles native was ready to play out the prime of his career for his hometown team. Everything seemed so right until suddenly, it wasn’t.
Over the next two seasons, Young had a hard time duplicating, or improving upon his career year during his first stint with the Lakers. The next season saw his points per game average drop to 13.4 and then to a career low 7.3 during the 2015-16 season. Swaggy P became more recognized for his off the court lifestyle and his engagement to rapper, Iggy Azalea, than his actual play on the court. Young’s presence proved often times to be more of a distraction than needed and that was further proven during last spring’s D’Angelo Russell leaked video incident.
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When his head is on straight, Young can be a thunderous punch off any bench in the NBA. Young is capable of creating his own shot, drawing fouls, and definitely isn’t afraid to shoot the long-ball. The problem however, lies in the fact that there aren’t many times when his head is on straight. Too often, the Nick Young that we see on the court is the bad shot taking, no defense playing, Shaqtin’-a Fool MVP candidate. His antics often earned him a spot in Byron Scott‘s doghouse over the past two seasons, which likely explains his massive drop in production.
It’s no coincidence that Young’s most productive season came under head coach Mike D’Antoni in 2014. D’Antoni ran a spaced out offensive system that figures to be similar to what current head coach Luke Walton plans to run. In theory, Nick should be able to excel in a system like this. Unfortunately, due to the Lakers off season moves, he might not get the chance. A quick look at the projected depth chart shows Young appearing to be the odd man out.
- PG – D’Angelo Russell – Jose Calderon – Marcelo Huertas
- SG – Jordan Clarkson – Lou Williams
- SF – Luol Deng – Brandon Ingram – Anthony Brown – Nick Young
- PF – Julius Randle – Larry Nance Jr.
- C – Timofey Mozgov – Tarik Black – Ivica Zubac
Frankly, Nick Young proves to be a bit of a question for the Lakers. He undoubtedly has not lived up to the 4-year deal he signed. However, with a new coaching staff, more veteran players, and a new system that plays to his strengths, Young might still prove to be a valuable asset.
My guess is that he won’t be on the roster come opening night. The Lakers have too much invested in Deng and Ingram to play him at small forward, and he wont sniff any minutes if played behind Clarkson and Williams. Young has two years & $11 million left on his deal meaning that it will be difficult for the Lakers to trade him to any team.
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The best case scenario for Young if he wants to stay on the team is to somehow survive on the roster until training camp, and use that as an opportunity to improve his defense. Otherwise, Swaggy P will no longer be a Laker.