NBA 2016 Rumors: Nick Young's Future Uncertain in LA; Lakers to Drop or Trade Swaggy P
The Phoenix Suns and, later, the Golden State Warriors set the standard of play for NBA's new era. Whereas the NBA of the 90s, as legend Charles Barkley likes to put it, concentrated on tough, gritty offense, today's NBA focused more on offense. Teams rely on ball movement, floor spacing and tremendous outside shooting to win games.
Luke Walton, former assistant coach and, for a time, the interim head coach of last year's Warriors, signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason. Walton debuted with the team as a player in 2003, and now plans to rebuild and replenish the lost splendor of the Lakers.
Accurate and streaky three-point shooting is good to have on a player's resume if he wants a spot in a former Warriors coach's roster. Nick Young has that—however, his future looks uncertain in the weeks leading to the 2016-17 season.
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On the Bubble
On Monday, the Lakers hosted their Media Day prior to the start of training camp. The camp will probably settle who stays and who does not in Walton's loaded roster. The NBA does have a 15-player limit, and each team would either have to cut or trade players to follow the rule.
That said, Nick Young is one of the players listed as "on the bubble" by Bleacher Report as the camp starts. He stands at No. 16 of 20 players eligible for a spot in Walton's lineup, just below last week's new signee Metta World Peace. The latter is a 36-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year and also a former teammate of Walton's.
Meanwhile, Young is not getting any younger either. He is a 31-year-old rumor magnet, not just on the court, but in Hollywood as well. He also had quite the fall from grace over the last seasons under former coach Byron Scott.
In his first full season with the Lakers in 2013, he played 28.3 minutes a night, averaging 17.9 points per game on 48.6 shooting and 38.6 from beyond the arc. Last season under Scott, he played only 19.3 minutes per game and averaged 7.3 points on 33 percent shooting in 54 games.
While Walton could help the veteran guard start over, it is rumored that the Lakers are planning to either waive Young or include him in a trade package. The most recent option they have is to deal Young and Lou Williams to the Sacramento Kings for Rudy Gay and Ben McLemore. McLemore is much younger than the two Lakers and has tremendous upside in athleticism and outside shot.
