The Los Angeles Lakers don’t have many players who are free agents this summer, but the most important, and the one who will garner the most interest, is shooting guard Nick Young.
Young enjoyed a bounceback season last year averaging 13.2 points while shooting over 40 percent from three-point range. In his exit interview Young hinted that he would opt-out and potentially look to join a playoff team, and that looks to be the case.
According to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News, Young plans to meet with multiple teams this weekend:
Nick Young has plans to “meet with a bunch of teams” this weekend after those undisclosed teams expressed interest after free agency began at 9:01 pm PT on Friday, according to a league source familiar with the situation. Though the Lakers also contacted Young’s representatives during that time period, both the Lakers and Young have conflicting agendas that suggest the end of their four-year tenure together.
It makes sense that the Lakers would at least contact Young considering the lack of shooting on the team right now. Young was the team’s best shooter last season and the Lakers are relatively thin at the shooting guard spot. As Medina pointed out however, the two sides are looking for different things.
While Young is looking to cash-in following an excellent season, the Lakers are only interested in bringing in players on short-term contracts that won’t cut in to their salary cap space in 2018. Neither side is wrong for wanting those things, it just puts them at opposite ends and makes a seperation that much more likely.
The Lakers have yet to sign anyone since free agency began, but they have reached out to the likes of Andre Iguodala, Rajon Rondo, and Ben McLemore. Nothing is for certain, but it certainly looks like Nick Young’s time as a Laker is done.
