They will likely be starters next season in Los Angeles, but I can’t shake the feeling that both might only be stopgap players. Heck, you could make the argument that such was the case last season, and the front office is only prolonging the experiment.
What Last Season Told Us
The 2013-14 campaign gave us an idea of what to expect from Young and Hill as members of the Lakers.
In a sixth-man role, Young demonstrated his knack for scoring by posting a career-high 17.9 points per game. Also, Young’s solid ball-handling gave the Lakers some creativity on the perimeter, which they desperately needed with Steve Nash (nerve in back) and Kobe Bryant (Achilles tear and knee fracture) essentially sitting out the year.
Young picked up the slack and posted his highest PER (16) as a pro, but the Lakers only won 27 games. In other words, Young’s best barely mattered. Ouch.
To be fair, I’m not sure any team could bounce back after losing its starting backcourt during the majority of the 82-game grind, but Young’s production gave the Lakers nothing.
General manager Mitch Kupchak needed to see whether Young could fit alongside Kobe, and the question still lingers. If anything, Young played the front office. He posted solid numbers and “forced” the hand of the Lakers into re-signing him to a four-year, $21.5 million deal with a player option for the final season.
It seems pertinent to mention that Young’s second-most productive campaign (2010-11) helped the Washington Wizards win 23 games. There is a correlation here: Young gets minutes on bad teams.
He isn’t the type of 2-guard that would get a heavy dose of playing time because he lacks discipline offensively (probably an understatement) and doesn’t always challen...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
