Nick Young's Return Won't Save Los Angeles Lakers' Bench Problem
The return of Nick Young to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup will provide a major offensive shot in the arm—but it won’t solve the bench problem.
Not with a roster stretched so impossibly thin, or on a team accelerating through a nosedive of tragic proportions.
Regardless, the 29-year-old swingman is finally on track to play, six weeks after tearing a thumb ligament in his shooting hand.
Per Joey Ramirez for Lakers.com, Young is anxious to help stop his team’s skid:
"It’s tough because I love the game of basketball. Just seeing them go out there and struggle, I want to be a part of everything. If we’re gonna lose, we’ll all lose together. If we’re gonna win, we’ll win together.
"
But as Kurt Helin for ProBasketballTalk writes, it may be little more than increased entertainment for the fanbase:
"The Lakers are hard to watch right now, we need reasons to tune in. A potential Swaggy P show is a good reason—if Kobe Bryant likes teammates who are fearless and will take the shot, he’ll love Young. How much he loves Young after he takes a couple shots when Kobe thinks he has a better one remains to be seen.
This is good news, the league is more fun to watch with Swaggy P in it.
"
As fun as Young's return may be, it won’t be enough to overcome the ineptitude of the Lakers’ bit players on whole.
Is the bench really all that bad? Yes, it is.
To put the epic terribleness into its proper perspective, let’s look at scoring production over four prior games.
On Nov. 16, while being blown out by the Golden State Warriors, Byron Scott emptied the folding chairs early, allowing his scrubs to amass 44 points—36 of which came in the final frame of garbage time.
By comparison, Kobe Bryant contributed 44 points all on his own during the first three quarters, after which his night was done.
L.A.’s bench stalwarts notched 21 points in a debacle against the San Antonio Spurs, 18 while fading to the New Orleans Pelicans and 14 lonely specs in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
It's worth noting that the one shiny spot on the support squad—backup big man Ed Davis—is averaging 9.2 points, 6.7 boards and 1.7 blocks per game.
When you take away the 25-year-old shot-swatter, the rest of his bench buddies are contributing slightly more than nothing when it matters.
Is this not the point, however—that Young, the irrepressible shot-taker and maker, is exactly what the team needs to snap it out of its fall-turning-to-winter doldrums?
To some extent, yes—it’s hard to argue against a proven scorer when scoring resembles an endangered species. And, as the presumed sixth man, it stands to reason that Young’s presence would galvanize the very players that are currently misfiring.
But that assumes current efforts are some sort of puzzling aberration—that the Laker subs are actually better than shown.
That’s debatable. It may be true that swingman Xavier Henry and frontcourt shooter Ryan Kelly have each regressed noticeably after taking time off to deal with injuries.
On the other hand, backup point guard Ronnie Price and utility center Robert Sacre are performing at about their career norms.
And, when it comes to firepower from beyond the arc, the bench unit is converting slightly more than one collective attempt per game.
It’s not only scoring that’s at issue. The team’s defense—a priority for Scott going into his first season as head coach for the organization—is the worst in the league. Adding insult to injury, the Lakers sideline leader now says it may be unfixable.
According to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times, Scott recently said: "Most of the time the things that we want to do, they haven't done. I don't know if it's because they're incapable of doing it or not. If they can't, then we'll change and go to something else."
What happens when Young returns? Although he’s never been known for his prowess on the defensive end, he at least plays with passion. And, his infectious enthusiasm for making it rain on the offensive end has always been a hallmark.
That said, if it's agreed that Bryant’s fellow starters too often stand and watch him succeed or fail, it is safe to assume the bench could as easily defer to Young.
Is there no other help available on this roster?
Wayne Ellington has played some solid backup minutes at the shooting guard position, but he is currently away from the team due to a family tragedy.
One other consideration would be to take the halter off Jordan Clarkson. The second-round rookie hasn’t had much playing time so far, but he shows no trepidation when Scott does allow him onto the court—blowing by everyone when he gets the ball, straight into the face of mayhem.
It’s not always an effective strategy, but there’s something refreshing about a teammate who hasn’t yet been compartmentalized by the game.
Would a raw, unbridled rookie work alongside Young, who has so often proven to be an unrepentant wild card himself?
There really isn’t any kind of subflooring below the worst record in the Western Conference, so it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try the two gunners—one a veteran and the other a kid—in the same lineup.
Henry and Clarkson both got extra development time recently with the team's affiliate D-Fenders, scoring 33 and 28 points, respectively, in a loss to the Texas Legends.
Perhaps at some point this season, the Lakers will pull the trigger on a trade that makes them better. Or, maybe Young will connect with Davis in the same way that he did with JaVale McGee during their years together with the Washington Wizards?
Swaggy P can’t save the bench on his own—there’s simply not enough tangible depth. But he could potentially form alliances with other second-unit players that would allow for a productive unit to emerge and develop.
That is more of a hopeful chemistry byproduct than a cohesive plan of action.
But with no other help on the horizon, it’s about all fans have to cling onto.
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