clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Lakers will 'likely' try to trade Nick Young this summer, according to report

It seems unlikely they will find a taker without giving up something of value, though.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

In the wake of the locker room discord caused by D'Angelo Russell's video of Nick Young admitting to infidelity becoming public, many have wondered if the two can ever truly co-exist in a harmonious locker room again. The Los Angeles Lakers front office is evidently wondering the same thing, and the team is "likely" going to attempt to trade Nick Young once again this offseason, according to Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times.

The Lakers signed Young to four-year, $21.5 million deal in the summer of 2014 after the scoring wing had arguably the best season of his career in his first year in Los Angeles. Young thrived under former Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni, averaging the most points (17.9) and assists (1.5) per game of his career, while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 38.6 percent on three-pointers.

Young has struggled since then, frequently clashing with head coach Byron Scott and averaging 9.9 points on 35.4 percent shooting since re-signing with the Lakers. According to Bresnahan, these struggles wille probably lead the front office to re-ignite trade talks involving the former fan favorite:

The Lakers tried to trade Young, 30, each of the last two seasons as his production dropped. There were no takers. They will likely try to find a home for him again this off-season, which won't be easy with a player who didn't even get off the bench in eight games last month.

If the Lakers want to move Young, and more importantly, the two-years and approximately $11 million remaining on his contract, they will likely have to attach an asset for a team to take on his deal.  It won't be easy to find a suitor, but with nearly every team having a ton of cap space this summer, the Lakers might be able to find a taker after the free-agent frenzy in the opening days of July dies down and some teams are left with money to spend and roster spots to fill.

With that said, the Lakers will still be dealing from a position of weakness given that all other 29 GMs know they have to move Young so they won't carry the bad locker room vibes from this season into the next one. Regardless of what Lakers have to do to make it happen, it sounds like the Swaggy-P era has come to an end in Los Angeles.

All stats per Basketball Reference. You can follow this author on Twitter at @hmfaigen.

Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for the Silver Screen & Roll Daily Roundup newsletter!

A daily roundup of Los Angeles Lakers news from Silver Screen & Roll