Los Angeles Lakers small forward Nick Young is moving closer and closer to getting traded as rumors of a falling out with head coach Byron Scott is said to be the reason why his playing time has been steadily diminishing in the past few games.
After playing 12 minutes in the Lakers' loss to Philadelphia during the first day of December, Young had back-to-back DNP's against Washington and Atlanta. He was on the court for seven minutes versus Detroit on Sunday in a game that featured him getting ejected for shoving Anthony Tolliver, then another DNP in Toronto on Monday.
Bleacher Report noted that "it's abundantly clear the volume-shooting wing has fallen out of favor with head coach Byron Scott and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff", which explains why his minutes are fading and should be a clear sign that he could be off to a new team before February.
First of all, the Lakers had been wanting to deal Young ever since the offseason began, but there were simply no takers for the mercurial outside shooter.
Secondly, the Lakers really does not have any need for him anymore. Young and fellow substitute volume shooter Lou Williams basically play the same role and position and the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year is noticeably getting Scott's nod.
Williams is being fielded an average of 26.1 minutes in 19 games so far while Young got 19.1 mpg in 18 appearances. Taking that as an indication, it is clear that Williams is part of the Hollywood squad's future plans and Young is not.
To gain some value off Young, Fansided recently proposed a trade to L.A. neighbor Clippers as Doc Rivers' team clearly has a need for an outside shooting no. 3.
The report mentioned that even with the recent acquisitions of Lance Stephenson, Paul Pierce, and Wesley Johnson, the Clips have not solved their "serious problems at the small forward position".
Young could be the answer to Rivers' problems and a direct trade with fellow trade chip Jamal Crawford is approved by the ESPN Trade Checker.