Nick "Uncle P" Young appreciation thread

Post #1 » by **Slava** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 12:14 pm

Close to halfway into the season:

8th amongst SGs in RPM
4th in ORPM
7th in the NBA and 1st amongst SGs in eFG%

Higher TS%, PER, eFG%, 3pt%, BPM, WS/48 and free throw rate than Klay Thompson.

Uncle P is my favorite for comeback player of the year.

ALL HAIL · Post #2 » by **ALL HAIL** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 1:00 pm

People's irrational, overly-emotional fear that, somehow, Young's presence on this team after "the incident" was going to interfere with Russell's growth, was the most overused, widely acceptable assumptions I think I've ever seen here.

99% of the people here incorrectly inferred, as a foregone conclusion mind you, that not only was he going to be traded, but more importantly, and more irrationally, that he needed to be traded for the greater good.

Such is the way of accepting narratives to form opinions. Much better to use something else.

Nick's a pure shooter, always has been.

I just hope he doesn't get big-headed and lazy in the offseason after he resigns for big money in the offseason somewhere else.

He thoroughly needs financial motivation to play well. He's the poster boy for the perfect one-year contract player.

SlimShady83 · Post #3 » by **SlimShady83** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 2:21 pm

ALL HAIL wrote:99% of the people here incorrectly inferred, as a foregone conclusion mind you, that not only was he going to be traded, but more importantly, and more irrationally, that he needed to be traded for the greater good..

that 1% was me

the only one expected him to stay

glad you remembered me

haha.

I knew he was going to stay because of his love for La and being a 3pt thread and knowing that Walton would need him

Not knowing how ever that watlon would teach him or tell him to play D and even pass the ball LOL that I didn't know.

Love the Swag and hope he stays.

If we don't have a star or superstar type of player then LA needs the Swag - we need some sort of entertainment after all it's LA

The Skyhook · Post #4 » by **The Skyhook** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 2:33 pm

He's been the biggest surprise of the season without a doubt. I love watching this guy play with a reenergized passion

aaron_gray · Post #5 » by **aaron_gray** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 2:48 pm

For a second I thought he got traded.

Landsberger · Post #6 » by **Landsberger** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 8:11 pm

He's surprised me. Early in the season he was playing fantastic defense and shooting lights out. He's still shooting great and still playing better defense than our other 3 rotational guards albeit not quite at the effort level seen initially this year.

Is he a crowd favorite that we keep to make things interesting or is he a player who's peaking in and up an down career we can use to get us closer to having the pieces to continue the rebuild? It will be interesting to see how the FO plays this next month and a half with Young and Williams.

Post #7 » by **dockingsched** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 10:06 pm

This is essentially his last and best chance at a nice pay day, the motivation was overlooked and underestimated.

Crooked-I · Post #8 » by **Crooked-I** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 10:14 pm

Nick Young aka Swaggy P aka Uncle P #NBAVOTE

Crooked-I · Post #9 » by **Crooked-I** » Sun Jan 8, 2017 10:17 pm

I'd resign him to a Lou Williams type contract. Anything more than that is too risky, he might go back to unmotivated Swaggy again.

Tee212 · Post #10 » by **Tee212** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 2:39 am

thanks for this slava lol, hes been awesome for us. i wish he drove more in the lane and get ft's. his speed is Klay like (slow) but he has better handles and better shot creator. i think hes just too pretty to drive in the lane and get injured by the bigs these days. He has a nice body for posting up ..i wished he worked on that aspect of his offensive game. Basically all Klay has on nick is youth and a much quicker release, and he also playing with 2 MVP's in their prime along with Green...so hes getting wide open shots.

tugs · Post #11 » by **tugs** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 4:39 am

Thought Young got traded.

Ballerhogger · Post #12 » by **Ballerhogger** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 5:03 am

On 2 year deal low value. I doubt he takes it but I don't see the need to gamble on it anymore .

aaron_gray · Post #13 » by **aaron_gray** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 11:44 am

Whether or not to try and trade Nick Young is probably one of the most difficult decisions the FO is currently facing. Since other users have listed some of his positives in this thread already, I'll try and explain the rationale behind potentially trading him.

-Young is playing well on both ends of the floor. Wings that can space the floor and play defense are always in demand. There are a lot of hungry Eastern conference teams in the playoff mix that could desperately use some extra shooting/more wing depth and have the assets to make a deal (there are teams in the West that could use another wing as well, but they've mostly traded away their future picks).

-Korver just got traded for a late first. I am 100% convinced that right now, with everything taken into account (shooting, defense, age, contract, etc.), Nick Young is worth more than Kyle Korver and should at least theoretically fetch more in a trade. Say what you want about the Moz and Deng contracts, but you can't deny the fact that the FO has hit on a very high number of late firsts/early seconds in the past few drafts. Also, the odds of the Lakers keeping their pick this year are very, very low.

-Just objectively speaking, should the FO decide not to trade him, Nick Young is not going to pick up his player option for next season unless he tears his ACL in March or something. Unlike JC, I see absolutely no motivation on Young's part to return to the Lakers on a team friendly deal. If the FO wanted to bring him back, they will in all likelihood have to overpay, especially since he's a wing player. Even if for whatever reason you thought he's worth a lot of money, you have to remember that Uncle P is 31 years old.

-Chances are the Lakers will miss the playoffs unless Luke somehow manages to get this team to play league average defense the rest of the way.

ALL HAIL · Post #14 » by **ALL HAIL** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 1:21 pm

What's considered mid-level money these days?

Because of his reputation as a low-focused, immature, gunner, he should get right under that level.

Maybe eight million per for two years. That'd be the best I could do for him.

aaron_gray · Post #15 » by **aaron_gray** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 2:40 pm

ALL HAIL wrote:What's considered mid-level money these days?

Because of his reputation as a low-focused, immature, gunner, he should get right under that level.

Maybe eight million per for two years. That'd be the best I could do for him.

I haven't yet heard spitballs for what Nick Young would command in free agency from any reputable sources, but if I had to guess, it would be somewhere between 15-18 mil for 1 or 2 years. Which isn't even that much for a wing that shoots 40% from 3 on 7 **** attempts a game who also plays defense and happens to be 6'7. The problem is whether he would be willing to take that kind of money from the Lakers since he can probably get that from a contender/playoff team.

ALL HAIL · Post #16 » by **ALL HAIL** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 3:13 pm

aaron_gray wrote:
ALL HAIL wrote:What's considered mid-level money these days?

Because of his reputation as a low-focused, immature, gunner, he should get right under that level.

Maybe eight million per for two years. That'd be the best I could do for him.

I haven't yet heard spitballs for what Nick Young would command in free agency from any reputable sources, but if I had to guess, it would be somewhere between 15-18 mil for 1 or 2 years. Which isn't even that much for a wing that shoots 40% from 3 on 7 **** attempts a game who also plays defense and happens to be 6'7. The problem is whether he would be willing to take that kind of money from the Lakers since he can probably get that from a contender/playoff team.

You're not wrong here, but you've got to contextualize it. It's Nick Young.

Post #17 » by **Slava** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 3:18 pm

aaron_gray wrote:
ALL HAIL wrote:What's considered mid-level money these days?

Because of his reputation as a low-focused, immature, gunner, he should get right under that level.

Maybe eight million per for two years. That'd be the best I could do for him.

I haven't yet heard spitballs for what Nick Young would command in free agency from any reputable sources, but if I had to guess, it would be somewhere between 15-18 mil for 1 or 2 years. Which isn't even that much for a wing that shoots 40% from 3 on 7 **** attempts a game who also plays defense and happens to be 6'7. The problem is whether he would be willing to take that kind of money from the Lakers since he can probably get that from a contender/playoff team.

No one ventured to offer JR Smith that kind of money until he signed with Lebron's agency. I think Nick Young carries a larger stigma than JR does.

ALL HAIL · Post #18 » by **ALL HAIL** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 3:44 pm

Slava wrote:
aaron_gray wrote:
ALL HAIL wrote:What's considered mid-level money these days?

Because of his reputation as a low-focused, immature, gunner, he should get right under that level.

Maybe eight million per for two years. That'd be the best I could do for him.

I haven't yet heard spitballs for what Nick Young would command in free agency from any reputable sources, but if I had to guess, it would be somewhere between 15-18 mil for 1 or 2 years. Which isn't even that much for a wing that shoots 40% from 3 on 7 **** attempts a game who also plays defense and happens to be 6'7. The problem is whether he would be willing to take that kind of money from the Lakers since he can probably get that from a contender/playoff team.

No one ventured to offer JR Smith that kind of money until he signed with Lebron's agency. I think Nick Young carries a larger stigma than JR does.

You're wrong about JR Smith's old "stigma". You're right that he got his contract because he's riding the LeBron James championship caravan.

ALL HAIL · Post #19 » by **ALL HAIL** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 3:55 pm

I'd have ABSOLUTELY no problem giving Young an inflated one-year deal.

lake_show · Post #20 » by **lake_show** » Mon Jan 9, 2017 6:32 pm

I think we all agree there's no reason (other than injury) that Nick doesn't opt out at the end of the year. I have no problem with us giving him a reasonable 1-2yr contract. Question is does someone try to over pay him? If so, I hope to god we don't try to match some huge ridiculous contract.

I think we could get a deal from Nick personally. He loves playing in LA, and he loves playing with these young kids. Problem is, I don't think Nick's agent is dumb enough to let him cut a deal on his possibly last, or second to last contract. Especially the way he's played this year.

I hate to say it, because I love the way he's played this year, but if we could get a trade for Nick I'd do it. Problem here is, any team trading for Nick would only be getting a rental because his contract is up at the end of the year, and... I think there's a lot of skepticism surronding Nick 1) because it is a contract year for him, and 2) well let's face it, he's Nick Young. I'd personally take whatever we could get from him and make an attempt to re-sign him in the off-season. If we really needed him that bad.