Veteran guard/forward Nick Young officially opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. Even though the Lakers seem intent on making a run at LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, re-signing Young isn’t out of the question and GM Mitch Kupchak hopes the team is able to bring him back:
“We anticipated and expected that Nick would choose to become a free agent,” said Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak in the official Lakers press release. “We very much appreciate his contributions to last season’s team, and we will hopefully be able to bring him back. However, he, his agent and the market will dictate his future direction.”
With Young coming off a career-year with the Lakers, the journeyman has increased his value on the open market. Young chose not to opt into his second year with Los Angeles that would’ve paid him $1.2 million, but the move was expected considering he’ll likely be offered much more by interested teams this summer.
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The Lakers have not ruled out re-signing Young, but there’s been no indication as to what his asking price will be and if the storied franchise is willing to pay that amount.
Along with Young, the Lakers will have plenty of other players hitting the free agent market from last season’s roster. Young will join Wesley Johnson, Xavier Henry, Kent Bazemore, MarShon Brooks, Jodie Meeks, Jordan Hill, Chris Kaman, Jordan Farmar and Pau Gasol in free agency.
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Only Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Robert Sacre are under guaranteed contract to return to the Lakers next season. Kendall Marshall has a non-guaranteed deal at $915,243 and is expected to be retained. Second-year forward Ryan Kelly’s fate will be determined on June 30 with the team having the option to make him a restricted free agent.
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