Nick Young Headed Home, Dealt in Three Team Deal to the Los Angeles Clippers

On a puzzling deadline day across the league, the Clippers picked up shooting guard Nick Young from the Washington Wizards. The three-team deal sends Young to the Clippers, center JaVale McGee to the Denver Nuggets, and center Nene Hilario to Washington. The Clippers reportedly give up seldom-used Brian Cook and a future second-round pick as well. 

The Clippers have sorely lacked a scoring punch at the two guard since Chauncey Billups went down with an Achilles injury. The undersized Randy Foye has shot the ball well of late, but has certainly not been the answer. Mo Williams has been great off the bench, but he—along with Foye and guard Eric Bledsoe—is a small combo guard not capable of playing the true two.

The Clippers have been searching for an answer, a true shooting guard capable of creating his own shot and providing an offensive spark. Nick Young fits the bill.   

Nick Young is a proven scorer, and above-average three-point shooter. With the Clipper offense heavily focused on screen and roles and isolation, Nick Young's ability to consistently shoot the ball from the wing could be pivotal to this team's success moving forward.

The knock on Young has always been his shot selection. He takes a lot of long twos, momentum killers, and has been known to shoot his team out of games on occasion.

His defensive game is also lacking, as he often proves too long to guard smaller, quicker shooting guards and too skinny to guard bigger threes.   

Overall, this was an easy call for the front office. Giving up a proverbial bench player in Brian Cook and a meaningless second-round pick makes this deal low-risk and potentially high-reward.

The former USC star becomes an unrestricted free agent at seasons end, meaning if he doesn't work out, the Clippers can let him walk. If Young does become a valuable piece in the puzzle, his relatively cheap price tag makes him a reasonable answer to some of the Clippers most pressing issues.