Season Summary
It was resurgent season for “Swaggy P,” who didn’t know if he was even going to make the team this past offseason. Young — who had difficulties on and off the floor last year — instead averaged 13.2 points and started all 60 of the games he played in, providing memories like his game-winning triple in the final seconds against Oklahoma City.
He finished 10th in the NBA in 3-pointers made (2.8), which was also the highest average ever by a Laker. His hot shooting from deep (40.4 percent) also earned him a trip to the All-Star Three-Point Contest, where he finished fourth.
By the Numbers
5.1: Young’s turnover percentage, which ranked third in the NBA. He committed only 36 giveaways in 1,556 minutes across 60 games.
32: Points scored against the defending-champion Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 17. In addition to his biggest scoring outburst of the year, he also drilled a career-high eight 3-pointers.
170: Three-pointers made by Young, who finished 13 shy of Nick Van Exel for the most in franchise history. Young would have almost certainly broken that mark if he had not sat the final 13 games of the year in order to give more minutes to the team’s young players.
What’s Next
Young has a player option for next season and would not say if he was leaning toward staying with the Lakers or testing free agency. The 31-year-old did admit that he would like to compete with a playoff team at this point in his career, though he also claimed that it would be difficult for him to leave his hometown of L.A.
Shot Chart