Nick Young's Long-Term Future a Major Question Mark for Los Angeles Lakers

What a difference a year makes for Nick Young—the ebullient scorer who lit up a dreary season for the Los Angeles Lakers and was rewarded with a new four-year, $21.5 million deal during the 2014 offseason.

It was welcome news for the Los Angeles native who attended USC.

And so, with his multimillion-dollar smile, the adoration of fans and a "Fancy" pop star girlfriend in Iggy Azalea, Young approached the new fall campaign with a determination for a stronger collective team.

“I got a lot more to do, man,” the 29-year-old said to Mike Trudell for Lakers.com in September. “They think we sweet so, we gotta come back and prove something this year.”

But sweet turned to sour in a hurry for the man who refers to himself as Swaggy P in the third person.

And by the time it was all over, last year’s hometown hero had become a bust, with a good chance of being shipped out.

“The Lakers will entertain offers for him, according to a team official familiar with the front office’s thinking,” wrote Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News recently. “Still...Young’s poor play could sour his value as well as the Lakers’ reluctance to attach any draft picks just to expend him.”

How did we get here from there?

The season got off to a non-start when Young tore a thumb ligament on his shooting hand during training camp. He had been trying to steal the ball from Kobe Bryant. Foolish man.

Surgery and rehab followed, and by the time Young rejoined the lineup, the Lakers were off to another perplexing start with one win out of their first 10 games.

The return of the unrepentant 6’7” shooter didn’t prevent losses from piling up. And as the wheels continued coming off the bus for the team, so did Young’s individual play—he became a fading glimmer of the sixth man from the previous season, including the weakest field-goal percentage of his eight-year career at 36.6 percent.

And perhaps worst of all was Young’s less than copacetic relationship with new head coach Byron Scott.

The dynamic had started on an a somewhat odd note the season before, when TWC TV analysts Scott and his former teammate James Worthy performed uncannily accurate on-air impersonations of Young.

But once the notoriously old-school Scott took charge as the team’s leader, the jocularity turned to serious criticisms and punitive actions.

During a loss to the Houston Rockets on January 25, Scott chose not to play Young for the entire second half. After the game, he explained his reasoning as a matter of body language.

“It looked to me, to be honest with you, that he didn’t want to be here,” Scott said, per Lakers.com. “That’s how I looked at him.”

Young didn’t play for the next three games. And when asked after practice on February 4 about the benching not sitting well with the veteran guard, Scott didn’t hesitate to throw gas on the fire.

“I don’t care if it sits well or not," responded Scott, per the team’s website. "You know how I feel, I don't care if it sits well or not."

The taskmaster also wanted more versatility from a player whose focus has always been on lighting up the scoreboard.

"I told Nick basically in simple terms, you can't be a one-trick pony,” Scott said, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. “You've got to play both ends of the floor.”

That the two sides are diametrically opposed is obvious. Young feels most comfortable freelancing with the ball in his hands, while Scott wants fewer contested shots and more off-ball work—coming off curls, setting screens and looking for easier scoring opportunities.

But by the middle of the same month, matters took a different twist as Young went out and stayed out, this time with a fractured kneecap. A beleaguered player of whom much was expected had played only 41 games for the entire season.

And just like that, the first year of Young’s new contract had passed with a whimper, not a bang.

During his exit interview in April, per Lakers.com, Young was asked about the criticisms from his coach.

“I take that as him wanting me to get better,” was the diplomatic response. “If he isn’t talking about you, he doesn’t care about you.”

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Pressed on what improvements Scott wanted to see over the summer, Young again toed the company line.

“Catch-and-shoot. I don’t need to dribble that much, but if I have to, I’ll always have that in my back pocket,” Young said. “When I was playing, teams were starting to double-team me. I need to learn how to make that pass and make that play.”

 Can things still work out for Young and the Lakers?

Ultimately, it is to the advantage of both sides to make things work in Los Angeles. The Lakers struggled to put points on the board this season and were ranked 23rd in offensive efficiency per ESPN. But despite an off year, Young remains a guy who can score in bunches.

He’s fine with coming off the bench and has always been an upbeat locker room presence. When he’s right and the ball’s going in the basket, there is an infectious joy that cannot be denied.

The front office didn’t throw mad money at Young; it auditioned him during 2013-14 for the veteran's minimum salary, and when the Lakers re-signed him, it was still for an unremarkable sum by NBA standards.

In fact, Young was the league’s 132nd highest-paid player this season. He’s not exactly breaking the bank.

Heading into his ninth year in the league, the basketball journeyman isn’t searching for a crossroads.

Young has family in Los Angeles and a home he recently purchased with Azalea. And the kid who once balled at Robertson Park and lit it up for Cleveland High School in the San Fernando Valley still has a genuine desire to succeed in purple and gold.

Nick Young wants to do better in L.A, that much seems clear.

But for now, it’s an offseason waiting game.