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Los Angeles Lakers: Nick Young’s Future

By Jackson Sanders

Jan 23, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers small forward Nick Young (0) reacts after a shot against the San Antonio Spurs during the first half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers small forward Nick Young (0) reacts after a shot against the San Antonio Spurs during the first half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nick Young was the star of the the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 2013-14 season. Unexpectedly, of course, but a star nonetheless.

He became the signature name of the franchise, as bizarre as it is to type those words, and fit right into Hollywood with his offensive capabilities and wacky personality. For many, seeing “Swaggy P” do his thing on the court was the sole purpose for tuning into the most abysmal season in the team’s history.

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It wasn’t much of a surprise when the team re-upped his contract following last season’s breakout performance. What was more of a shocker was that it strayed from the plan the franchise has been steadfastly following: preserving future cap space.

A four–year, $21.5 million contract isn’t all that awful for a bench scorer, despite the fact that years two, three, and four eat into the Lakers’ most coveted asset going forward.

When you need as many pieces as the Los Angeles Lakers do, it’s best to have all your cap space available, and it’s possible the $5 million that Nick Young will take each year could be spent on more promising players. However, that number isn’t crippling by any means, and could be a nice bargain if the salary cap balloons by $14 million as some have speculated.

Still, the Lakers are in the process of following up their worst season ever with one even more miserable, and Nick Young has struggled with various injuries en route to a terrible season himself. With the roster the team has been left with, it’s not difficult to picture Young as the offensive centerpiece, but instead he’s been relegated to the bench by either inefficiency or injury.

This leads to the big question: what is Nick Young’s future with the Los Angeles Lakers?

It’s clear that he needs to clean things up with his head coach, and continue to work on his defensive capabilities. But even with those two issues lingering, Nick Young is probably un-tradable, at least if the team would want anything more than a simple dump of his rather lengthy contract by today’s standards.

The reason he would be difficult to trade would be two-fold. First, he’s not a young player, and he’s been dealing with injuries all season long. Currently, he’s been diagnosed with a knee fracture, and has dealt with a myriad of other issues this season.

Shot-happy bench guys are normally not the hottest of trade commodities, and if they’re starting to break down it makes matters worse for anyone trying to sell.

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    • Second, and perhaps more importantly, Nick Young has been bad this season. He’s still a fairly good three-point shooter with a 36.9 percentage from the beyond-the-arc, but has been miserable overall with a 36.6 percentage. He’s never been a good defender, and really does not provide anything besides scoring punch.

    Take away that scoring prowess overall, and this season Young has been nothing more than a decent three-point threat.

    There’s certainly the possibility that once Nick Young gets healthy, he can get back to his scoring ways, and ultimately make good on the contract he earned in 2013-14. When he plays well, he’s worth the money, and if the cap is raised he should be viewed as a bargain.

    However, there’s also the possibility that this is the first step in a downward spiral for the happy-go-lucky “Swaggy P” fans have been entertained by for nearly two years. His body may betray him, and he potentially may not be able to provide as much scoring off the bench as was promised with his new deal.

    Whichever way this story goes, the Lakers and Nick Young will have to find out together, as this marriage doesn’t appear to have any type of annulment waiting in the wings.

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