LA Lakers Trade Rumors: Nick Young Still Getting Shopped By Lakers As NBA Season Approaches

LA Lakers trade rumors about Nick Young aren’t dying down. The Lakers still want to trade Young before the 2015-16 NBA season begins, but the front office has run into a specific problem here. It seems that no team wants to take on Young. A report from NBC Sports confirms that the team is trying to deal the veteran guard, but finding a trading partner has been no easy task.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Lakers just invested in former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, giving the free agent shooting guard a three-year deal. It supplants the role that Young played for the Lakers, making him very expendable. Add in other LA Lakers rumors about Kobe Bryant not getting along with him, and it seemed like Young may have been on his way out the door during the NBA offseason.

Much like Bryant, Young is a volume shooter that needs a lot of touches. It might have worked with Young backing up Bryant, but the addition of Lou Williams makes it a redundant situation. During the 2014-15 NBA season, Young averaged 13.4 points per game, but shot only 36.6 percent from the field. Those aren’t the type of shooting numbers that teams trying to make the postseason want to see. He will need to be much more consistent in the coming season if he wants to stay on the good side of his former MVP teammate.

It’s certainly possible that another team could feel that it needs to add some offense off the bench, and that this could lead to future discussions with the Lakers. As it stands now, though, Nick Young is likely going to start the 2015-16 NBA season with the Lakers. He is due roughly $16.3 million over the next three seasons, so it’s also not like he is overly expensive to keep on the active roster. In the 2017-18 NBA season, he also has a player option that could allow him to leave Los Angeles if he grows displeased with the situation.

One reason that the team may be looking to deal Young now rather than keep him as depth, is that he is on the books for two more seasons. When Kobe Bryant retires, the Lakers are going to have to find another big-name free agent to take his place. This is why there have been so many LA Lakers trade rumors about Nick Young, because the team wants to have as much cap room as possible to go after names like Kevin Durant.

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