Nick Young of the Los Angeles Lakers smiles while chatting with youngsters during the Nick Young Youth Summer Basketball Camp at Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, CA July 18, 2014.(Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)”
The anxiety heightened as soon as the Lakers informed Nick Young and Jordan Hill about some possible unpleasant news.
In separate instances, Lakers trainer Gary Vitti approached Young and Lakers coach Byron Scott alerted Hill that Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak wanted to speak with them. Aware that the Thursday’s trade deadline hovered over NBA every team, Young and Hill feared that meant only one thing. The Lakers just traded them.
Turns it out Vitti and Scott just successfully played the old-age hoax to have fun at the players’ insecurity. Despite the trade deadline featuring an NBA record 39 players dealt in various moves, the Lakers stayed put. Though the Lakers (13-40) have plenty of needs entering Friday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets (21-31) at Staples Center, they wanted to retain both their financial flexibility and future draft picks.
That left the Lakers’ players relieved that their job security remains intact for at least two more months.
“I thought J-Hill was gone, too,” Young said. “Fortunately they didn’t break any of us up.”
Hill stood outside the Lakers’ workout room, amused by Young’s shoutout. Soon enough, Young pleaded for Hill to approach reporters so Young could jokingly interview Hill as he has done many times in the locker room.
“How you doing today?” Young asked.
“I’m hanging in there, man,” Hill said with a smile on his face. “Feeling good.”
“They said the deadline is over,” Young said. “Are you a little relieved that you’re here?”
After all, Hill had posted career-numbers in points (12.3), rebounds (8) and minutes played (28). His two-year, $18 million contract also appeared attractive because any trading partner can decline his team option for next season.
“Man, you know, it’s a blessing,” Hill said. “Still here, still holding on by a thread.”
“But you here, though, right?” Young said.
“We still here,” Hill said. “Still going.”
“Kind of like ‘Ted’ at the end when [the teddy bear] got ripped in half?” Young asked.
“Yeah, he was hanging on by a thread,” Hill said.
The interview then ended and Young and Hill soon went their separate ways. But in four months, plenty on the Lakers will revisit those anxieties once again.
The Lakers have four unrestricted free agents (Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, Ronnie Price and Wesley Johnson) and four players with team options (Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Tarik Black and Robert Sacre). Lakers forward Ed Davis also plans to opt out of his $1.2 million player option in hopes of a more lucrative and long-term deal here.
Meanwhile, the Lakers will have plenty of purchasing power for the free agent market. If the Lakers land in the top five of the NBA lottery, they will keep their draft pick owed to the Phoenix Suns as part of the Steve Nash trade. The Lakers will have a mid first-round pick stemmed from the Lin deal from Houston. The only security seems to belong to Kobe Bryant and rookies Julius Randle and Clarkson.
“That’s definitely a great feeling to have an organization have that trust in you. I’m going to continue to work hard and get better,” Clarkson said. “I’m blessed to have this opportunity to play a lot and learn a lot quicker than a lot of the rookies around the league.”
As for the rest of the Lakers?
“I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Young said. “Being up in the air, I didn’t know who was going to be here.”
After all, the Lakers traded Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors for Kent Bazemore and MarShawn Brooks on the eve of last year’s deadline. Young was part of a three-team trade with the Washington Wizards and Denver Nuggets, where JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf went to the Nuggets for Nene, while Washington received Brian Cook and a future second-round pick from the Clippers. Young is in the first year of a four-year contract with the Lakers worth $21.5 million, but he has struggled recently with his shooting accuracy.
Meanwhile, the Lakers showed a “ton” of interest Phoenix guard Goran Dragic before he was eventually traded to the Miami Heat. But the Lakers “just didn’t have assets,” according to an NBA source familiar with the discussions.
“No he wasn’t,” Young said with genuine surprise after a reporter informed him about the deal. “That’s crazy. I didn’t think that was going to happen. I didn’t think Miami was the team he was going to go to. I thought it was going to be here or Houston as everybody was saying. It’s nerve wracking. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
No one knows what will happen this offseason, either. That leave the Lakers determined to upgrade their roster and the players unsure about if they fit into their future plans.
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com