Los Angeles Lakers Are Right To Put Nick Young On The Block

Los Angeles Lakers’ Nick Young endured his worst season of his career. He never managed to stay healthy enough to contribute to the team; He played in only 42 games. A putrid shooting percentage (36.6) and countless run-ins with head coach Byron Scott. His antics seemed to have worn thin on the franchise as reports surfaced that he may be on the trading block.

The only memorable game for Swaggy P this season was the game winner he hit against the San Antonio Spurs. After that game, he went on a horrendous shooting slump that damaged his confidence. Head Coach tried to encourage his player but Young did not respond well to criticism. During Jordan Hill’s exit interview, Hill said in regards to Young’s criticism that it was a “hard pill to swallow” for Swaggy.

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There was nothing wrong with Scott’s critique of Young. The 30-year-old could benefit from adding to his game instead of becoming a “one-trick pony.” Coach Scott told Mark Medina of the LA Daily News,

“You have to play on both ends of the floor and he can be a much better basketball player than what he is on both ends. He’s shown he can play defense when he wants to. It’s just all the little things.”

It’s a fair assessment from the Laker coach. Swaggy could be a better passer, rebounder and defender if he wanted to. If he improves in these categories he could possibly start alongside Kobe Bryant in 2015. Bryant and Young displayed great chemistry in the short time they were on the court together. When Young has it going, he can drop 20 points on any given night.

“The rim was tripping this year. Next year, I’m going to take her out on a date and treat her a little better.”

A starting berth for Young may not be a bad idea. The Lakers have Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson. The Missouri duo could be a devastating one-two punch off the bench if the Lakers bring in an established veteran point guard like Rajon Rondo or Goran Dragic to start. The Lakers may opt to bring back Vander Blue and Dwight Bucks as well for next season as they played well enough in their short stints with the purple and gold.

Back to Nick Young.

Nick began the 2014-15 season on the disabled list, missing the majority of training camp, the entire pre-season and start of the regular season. So many injuries the Lakers had to overcome as a whole. Young had it worse. He started with a thumb injury that required surgery, followed by a moderate ankle sprain, a peroneal tendon strain before the All-Star break and finally a small fracture in his kneecap, which he never recovered from.

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Despite his ailments, Young did his best to keep a smile going. Unfortunately the coach didn’t find it amusing. Byron actually pulled Young out of game against the Houston Rockets due to his lack of effort on the court. He told ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, “It looked to me that he didn’t want to be here…” Scott followed that incident by benching him multiple games. That doesn’t sound like a player that supposedly loves to play basketball.

Other events that discouraged me were his multiple fines from the coach for arriving late to the arena. Scott interrupted Young’s pre-game interview before the Lakers took on the Denver Nuggets. Nick was telling reporters of his near-death encounter with a dolphin when the Head Coach lashed out at the 6-foot-7 guard/forward about his tardiness. Given the Lakers terrible season, being late to games “multiple” times is simply inexcusable. Another episode was his twitter beef with Snoop Dogg. Snoop basically made fun of his girlfriend Iggy Azalea. Young naturally came to her defense and engaged in a common sixth grade spat. Let’s not forget the show Young and Hill put on after the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics during Jeremy Lin’s post-game interview. The look of disgust on Kobe Bryant’s face on the Jimmy Kimmel show, said it all. I reiterate these are things that distracted the former USC product from his game and rubbed the team the wrong way.

Nick Young thinks Byron Scott treated him unfairly this season. I strongly disagree. To ask Young to be a more balanced player on the court is not too much to ask. He needs to be better than a volume scorer. Will Young heed his coach’s words? “I take it with a grain of salt.” Not necessarily words of encouragement from a player who will be tied to the Lakers for three more years. Maybe dude just doesn’t get it!