At the current time, Los Angeles Lakers veteran guard Nick Young is focused solely on trying to become the first member of the franchise to win the Three-Point contest. Once All-Star Weekend is done however, many will begin focusing on the upcoming trade deadline.
With the Lakers moving towards more of a youth movement, Young, and fellow veteran Lou Williams, have been mentioned as players that could be shipped out if a good deal can be found.
Young is no stranger to trade rumors as he has been mentioned in them for years now, but he also understands the difference in those rumors before the season, compared to being mentioned now, via Tania Ganguli of the LA Times:
“When they talk about you in trades or being let go, there’s just so much negativity around, that’s bad. But when you’re doing good, and teams want you, they want to trade for you, that’s good. ‘He’s a valuable trade piece.’ That makes a total difference.”
Young definitely falls in the latter category thanks to his excellent play this season. Nonetheless, much like Williams, he isn’t worried about whether he is moved or not according to Mark Medina of the OC Register:
“It’s better when you know you’re wanted,” Young said. “I’ll be all right. We’ll see what happens. I’ve been hearing this forever. It’s either stay home or hopefully go to somebody that’s making a push to the playoffs.”
As a 10-year veteran, Young understands how the business of the NBA works and he has been traded before. The Lakers are reportedly engaging in more trade talks than normal this season, but that still doesn’t mean Young being shipped out is a guarantee.
Young is enjoying a career year so teams being interested in what he could provide to them makes sense. The Lakers won’t just ship him out for anything however, so the right deal must come or Young will stay right where he is.
