The Los Angeles Lakers got off to an exhilarating 10-10 start to the 2016-17 season, thanks in part to the cohesive hot start of the entire starting unit. The young core of Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson played competitively, while Nick Young was unbelievable hot from three-point range.
Young continued to exceed expectations throughout the first half of the season, gaining recognition as one of the electric shooters in the NBA. In fact, he was invited to participate in the three-point shootout at All-Star Weekend, capping off his first half.
However, Young’s role dwindled during the second half of the season, as head coach Luke Walton wanted to experiment with various lineups. He didn’t appear in 15 of the final 17 games of the regular season, but understood the situation and didn’t voice any opinions.
Young’s four-year, $21.32 million contract came to an end during the 2016-17 NBA season when he opted out of the last year that he was supposed to make $5.7 million, meaning he entered the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
Although Young sat out a majority of the final month, he was able to keep his season averages relatively high. Young was one of the premiere shooters in the 2016-17 free agency class, and he is now headed to the NBA Champion Golden State Warriors on a one-year, $5.2 million contract, via Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Free agent guard Nick Young has agreed to a one-year, $5.2M deal with the Golden State Warriors, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2017
The 10-year veteran averaged 13.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game, while shooting 43.0 percent from the field and an outstanding 40.4 percent from three-point range. His career high of 40.4 percent attracted a vast market and deservingly so.
As a three-point shooter, and a ‘Swaggy’ one at that, confidence reigns supreme. The 32-year-old carried the Lakers during many games, as his streaky shooting turning into a steady heap of three-pointers. Young is the ideal spot up shooter in today’s spread out, up-tempo NBA style offense, perfect for the Warriors.