Lakers season preview: Nick Young profile

Name: Nick Young

Season: 8th season (2nd with Lakers)

Role: Sixth man, fan favorite, microwave scorer.

The Good: The aforementioned scoring ability and seemingly unlimited levels of swagger. He gives 100% for his beloved hometown team and can be a ray of sunshine even on the darkest days. It's hard not to love Nick Young, who plays basketball with unbridled enthusiasm.

The Bad: Not for lack of effort, but he often gets beaten or lost on defense (a theme with Lakers players the last few years). His scoring ability can sometimes devolve into mere chucking, and when he is not "on," Swaggy brings little else to the table on the offensive end.

The Could-Be: Young thrives once again in his sixth-man role, is the Lakers second-leading scorer behind Kobe Bryant and by the end of the year is a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

The Hope-Not: The new-found efficiency displayed last season was a statistical outlier brought about by Mike D'Antoni's long leash and a contract year. Young's ebullience is not appreciated by Kobe Bryant and Byron Scott during a losing campaign, and leads to feuds within the locker room. The discourse becomes so toxic that Young's girlfriend Iggy Azalea and cousin Kendrick Lamar collaborate on "Hit Em Up: Vol. 2", dissing the Lakers, and scaring away future free agent targets.

The Likely: I am predicting that Young will be the Lakers third-leading scorer by the end of the year (behind Kobe and Randle), and that he maintains the efficiency levels that he displayed in 2013-14. That'd be a great season from Young for the Lakers, especially after inking him to a four-year, $21.5 million deal.

What It Means: Young having a productive year would help the Lakers stay an entertaining watch during a tough year, and the joy he brings to the game and locker room helps it not devolve into the chaos which can engulf some lottery teams.