Advertisement

Lakers a ‘dream come true’ for Nick Young

Share via

Nick Young is officially a Laker after agreeing to a one-year contract at the veteran’s minimum.

“We think there’s a lot of playing time here for him, if he works hard,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters on Friday. “We see him playing at the small forward position.”

Finding a starting caliber forward/guard may have made the decision to waive Metta World Peace easier for the Lakers. While World Peace will get his $7.7 million, the team will save about $15 million by using its one-time amnesty provision on the veteran forward.

Advertisement

“It’s a dream come true,” Young said.

The 6-foot-7 USC product is 28 years old. He played 22 games for the Clippers in 2012, helping the team advance past the Memphis Grizzlies in a hard-fought seven-game series.

It was Young’s hot-shooting heroics in Game 1 that helped the Clippers come back from a 27-point deficit.

Last season he played for the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 10.6 points a game on 41.3% shooting from the field and 35.7% from three-point range.

Advertisement

Young will make $1,106,941 for the coming season but the NBA will reimburse the Lakers for $222,648 -- standard practice when a player signs for a year at the minimum.

His salary cap number with the Lakers will be $884,293, the minimum for a player with two years’ experience.

ALSO:

Advertisement

Robert Sacre under contract for three more seasons with Lakers

Waived Metta World Peace tweets plans to play for Kings, Dodgers

Lakers reach deal with free agent Nick Young

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.

Advertisement