With the Los Angeles Lakers blatantly tanking evaluating young players as the regular season comes to an end, guard Nick Young has not appeared in 10 of their last 12 games, including eight consecutively. Unlike the situation with center Timofey Mozgov and forward Luol Deng, though, Young’s status has been decided “on a game-to-game basis,” per the Los Angeles Daily News’ Mark Medina -- until now.
According to the Daily News, Young has been shut down. He could reportedly play if a series of injuries necessitate it, but there are no plans for him to take the court again otherwise. There are only five games left in the regular season. In Young’s absence, there have been more minutes available for guards Jordan Clarkson, David Nwaba and Tyler Ennis.
The bigger question here is whether or not Young has played his final game in a Lakers uniform. There were rumors about him being available before the trade deadline, and the 31-year-old would seem to have played himself into a raise this summer based on his improved defense and 40.4 percent 3-point shooting this season. Young has said he’s undecided about picking up his $5.7 million player option for next season, per the Orange County Register, though he did say that his preference is to stay with his hometown Lakers.
