The Los Angeles Lakers are always a topic of conversation around the NBA, but that isn't necessarily always a good thing. Right now, the talk is about Kobe Bryant's last few games in the league, but just about a week ago, much of the talk was about the incident involving D'Angelo Russell and Nick Young.
The talks about Russell taping Young saying that he cheated on his fiancé Iggy Azalea seemed to quiet down pretty quickly without any immediate ramifications for anyone involved. There could be some long-term ramifications, though, and that may include Young being on his way out of Los Angeles.
Russell was the player that many people blamed for the situation, and rightfully so, but it doesn't seem like it will affect his future with the team. Yes, it may be hard for his teammates to trust him moving forward, but the Lakers see him as a future star and won't trade him just because of this one lapse in judgment.
Young's future, on the other hand, is much more of a question mark. It seems like his personal life has recovered just fine, as Azalea tweeted that they are good, but his professional life is not quite as good. Since the tape was released, Young, who wasn't a major part of the rotation anyway, has not played a minute and hasn't even been active. Head coach Byron Scott says that Young hasn't been mentally with the team and sees no reason to put him on the floor at this juncture.
Since it seems unlikely that Young will appear in any of the Lakers' final three games, his career with the franchise may be over as they will look to try and trade him this offseason. The Lakers tried to trade him before this season and during the trade deadline as well but were unsuccessful. They will test the market again this offseason, but it won't be easy to unload him.
Young is a solid scorer in the NBA, but his stock has plummeted over the last couple of years. The 30-year-old forward has always been a volume shooter that takes some bad shots, but last season, he shot just 37 percent from the field, and that has gone down to 34 percent this season. Some teams may be willing to take a flier on him because he is still a very good three-point shooter, but it seems likely that most teams would consider him more trouble than he is worth. Young has two years left on his contract, the last of which is a player option, so if the Lakers can't find a trade partner for him, they will be stuck with Swaggy P, unless they decide to release him and eat the money he is owed.
