NBA Trade Rumors: Nick Young's Trade Demands Make Clippers Contenders in West

In one of the more complex deals of the NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Clippers netted former Washington Wizards shooting guard Nick Young. Los Angeles was the beneficiary of Young's desire to return to his hometown, and now the Clippers are legitimate contenders.

According to the Washington Post, the Wizards intended to package Young and center JaVale McGee in a deal to the Denver Nuggets for center Nene, but Young's representatives said that Young would only accept a trade to two teams, with the Clippers being one of them.

The entire deal involved the Clippers getting Young, the Nuggets picking up McGee and Ronny Turiaf, and the Wizards acquiring Nene, Brian Cook and a second-round pick. From the Clippers' perspective, they only had to give up a depth forward a second rounder for a player that is averaging 16.6 points and nearly two three-pointers made per game this season.

Los Angeles is hanging tough in fifth place in the Western Conference with a record of 24-18, but one can't help but think that the Clips are underachieving. With players like Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, the Clippers were considered one of the favorites in the conference heading into the season.

They have been up and down, however, and much of that likely has had to do with the season-ending injury to Chauncey Billups. While Billups wasn't a natural shooting guard, his scoring ability was a good complement to Paul in the backcourt. Since then, the Clippers have leaned on Mo Williams, but depth has been an issue.

Young may have some maturity issues and his shot selection isn't always the best, but when he gets hot he is capable of dominating on the offensive end. Young is a volume shooter, so he will have to adjust to being the third offensive option with the Clippers, but if he finds a way to mesh then he will be a huge acquisition for L.A.

The biggest coup in this whole situation for the Clippers is that they basically gave up nothing for a scorer with immense potential. Even if Young doesn't work out for whatever reason, it won't hurt Los Angeles since the price to acquire him was minimal.

Young has never been in a real winning environment at the NBA level, so I'm inclined to believe that he will excel with the Clippers. It was his request to join Los Angeles and he has to know that Paul and Griffin are the main guys. As long as he adjusts to his complementary role, he will be the missing piece the Clippers have been searching for.

It isn't going to be easy to beat out teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs or Los Angeles Lakers, but the Clippers have all the talent and components to do so. General manager Neil Olshey has done all he can to put a winning team on the floor and now it's time for the players to execute.