Nick Young (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers may have finally found a suitable landing spot for shooting guard Nick Young. The Cleveland Cavaliers are currently having a hard time re-signing with J.R Smith, who is demanding a salary thrice as bigger than the amount he earned last season. With the Cavs and J.R Smith still millions apart, the Lakers could seize the opportunity of offering Young to Cavs in exchange for a couple of second round picks.
Young, 31, averaged 7.3 points over 54 games last season. For the second straight season, his field goal shooting dropped below 30 percent from the field while hitting 32 percent of his shot from the three-point line.
The Lakers still owed Young $10 million over the next two seasons, but many insiders believe the team looks to unload the former USC Trojan because of the off-court antics and distraction he brings to a locker room consists mostly of youngsters.
The Cavaliers stressed that they want to keep the championship core intact as much as possible, though Smith's asking price (reportedly worth $15 to $17 million per year) is keeping the talks on hold. Many believes, should the negotiation falls apart, Young is the likely trade target the Cavs would pursue because of his versatility and three-point shooting he provides to the table.
Dealing away Young would free-up up to $5M in cap space and provides Anthony Brown enough playing time at SG-SF spot.
The Lakers are high on second-round pick Ivica Zubac, who surprised many scouts during his tour of duty with the Lakers in the just-concluded Summer League. Zubac, the 32nd pick out of Croatia, averaged 10.6 points and 7.2 rebounds over five Summer League games. The impressive part about his run is he shot around 62 percent from the field along with almost 2 blocks per contest.
Lakers assistant coach Theo Robertson had an encouraging evaluation of Zubac following his Summer League campaign.
"It's hard to teach that size. He establishes good position. He has soft hands. He can do a variety of things, whether it's pop out to the 3-point corner, hit those types of jump shots. I feel like he can be a percentage free throw shooter and he has good touch around the rim. He's starting to feel more power and understand the level of physicality that it takes to be successful in this league," Robertson said of Zubac via Hoops Rumors.
