Nick Young wanted his money and no one gave it to him. He wanted to be appreciated and loved, and all he got instead were text messages and pictures of his empty locker stall from JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche. Maybe all his suitors were scared of his free-wheeling style or his penchant for jacking fadeaways. Maybe the hair was all that was needed to turn them off. However you cut it, Young struck out in free agency and had to come crawling back to Washington with his tail between his legs to accept the Wizards one-year qualifying offer of $3.7 million.
He says he doesn’t want to feel sorry for himself, or embarrassed that he was left without a dancing partner. If anything, it seems a little odd that a 26-year-old coming off a career year (17.4 points a game) couldn’t secure a deal.
Young told The Washington Post recently:
“I’m just taking it out on the league. I’m not going to sit back and pout. Nobody owes nobody nothing. It’s a business, and if they want me back, I’ll come back to the Wizards. I’m happy to be here.”
Young is right. He isn’t owed anything, and honestly, he’s fooling himself if his plans were to go for a contract worth $9 million annually this summer. No one was going to give him that. He could’ve gone to Rick Moranis and shrunk himself down to 6-0 and even David Kahn would’ve restrained himself.
But still, there are two trains of thought when it comes to the 6-6 two guard. There are those who think he’ll become one of the better scorers in the league. They see the athleticism, the creative one-on-one ability and the age as factors pointing towards rapid development. To them, he’s a prize fighter who hasn’t been properly trained.
The other side sees big scoring numbers on a bad team, the goofiness and the defense (or lack thereof). Washington has talent, but they’ve gotten the rap of a wildly immature team. Some of that, I think, comes from Young. As stupid as many GMs are, they’ll need to see a little more Serious Nick this year and a little something besides simply scoring.
In nearly 32 minutes a game last season, he averaged 1.2 assists. 1.2. True, John Wall was handling basically all of those duties for Washington, but anyone worth big money should be able to get 1.2 assists by the end of lay-up lines. On the glass, he only came down with 2.7 rebounds a night. That’s nearly as bad. How can anyone with his size and vert average less rebounds than Jose Calderon?
If Young truly wants to be paid like a star, then he’ll have to become one this year (That’s the point right? GMs, are you listening to me? Are you?!). Going into his fifth season, in the season before he’s scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent, it’s on him to make it happen in Washington.
Does this mean he’ll get serious and actually “take it out on the league?” Possibly. Money is a pretty good motivational tool.
Will Young be a beast this season?
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