The Lakers announced over the weekend that Nick Young will miss the remainder of the season due to a fractured knee. But if Young plans on making it back into the good graces of Lakers head coach Byron Scott, he's going to have to rehab other areas as well.
Byron Scott suggests Nick Young must grow up if he wants to stay in NBA
The Lakers head coach made it clear that Young has some work to do if he wants to be part of the team’s long-term plans.
“I don’t see a problem there with Nick and I, it’s just a matter of him getting healthy, No. 1, and understanding that going into next year his priorities have to be a little different,” Scott told reporters after a Lakers practice on Saturday, via ESPN Los Angeles’ Baxter Holmes. “I consider Nick either a home run- or a strikeout-type guy on the offensive end. Just like I told him, he has to elevate his game. He has to grow as a basketball player if he wants to continue to play in this league for a long time. He has to get better at moving without the ball, he has to be better at defending people a little bit better and be a better off-the-ball defender as well.”
Young, who has missed the Lakers’ last 20 games with the knee injury, is averaging 13.4 points and 2.3 rebounds in 42 games this season.
“There’s areas in his game that he has to improve, and if he doesn’t, there’s no telling what we’re going to do this year in the free agent market,” Scott added. “But if we get the guys we want then he’s got a challenge next year on his hands, as far as being in that rotation and playing consistent minutes.”
The Lakers will enter the offseason with loads of cap room, a lottery pick (assuming they don't fall out of the lottery's top-five, which would then send the pick to the Sixers) and they'll be getting Julius Randle back next season as well. The goal, no doubt, is to overhaul a roster that has won just 20 games this season. Young clearly has some work to do if wants to become part of the Lakers' longterm plan.
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