Biggest Improvements Nick Young Must Make to Thrive with LA Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers should be excited to have a player like Nick Young on the roster, but that doesn't mean he's the perfect fit for the team right now. In fact, there are three primary adjustments that Swaggy P has to make if he's going to thrive while calling the Staples Center home.

Last year, the 28-year-old shooting guard averaged 10.6 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game during his one and only season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

But this offseason brought about a lot of change.

Young will be wearing purple and gold, and he'll also be spending quite a bit of time at small forward. According to 82games.com, he played only three percent of the available minutes at the 3 in Philly, and that number is about to skyrocket once the Lake Show tries pairing him and Kobe Bryant together.  

However, Young's position and jersey can't be the only things to change.

He has to adjust his style as well. 

 

What is this passing thing?



I can just imagine Nick Young being shown the assists column on an NBA box score and acting like The Little Mermaid's Ariel when she looked at a fork for the first time. It would just open up a whole new world (whoops, mixing Disney similes and metaphors) of intriguing possibilities, alerting him to the existence of a previously foreign concept. 

In other words, I'm not convinced that Young understands what an assist is. At least, that's the impression he's left with his play ever since entering the Association out of USC. 

The shooting guard averaged 2.1 dimes per 36 minutes in 2012-13, and that was a career-high. To put that in perspective, Al-Farouq Aminu and Corey Brewer, two swingmen known for their non-offensive skills, averaged more per-minute assists. 

Things get even worse when you look at Young's assist percentage. It gives the percentage of field g...