EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers guard Nick Young has completely torn a ligament in his right thumb.
The Lakers announced Friday that Young needs surgery. They don’t know how long he’ll be out.
Young will have surgery on his thumb Monday. He was injured while trying to steal the ball from Kobe Bryant, jamming his thumb against Bryant’s arm during practice Friday.
Young was the Lakers’ leading scorer last season, his first with his hometown team. The shooting guard averaged 17.9 points per game while mostly coming off the bench, entertaining Lakers fans with his ebullient style during the club’s worst season in a half-century.
Young agreed to a four-year, $21.5 million deal to stay with the Lakers in July.
NBA proposes changes to lottery
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cavaliers might have pulled out of the NBA’s lottery game at just the right time.
The league is examining ways to change the lottery odds and process, a league source confirmed Friday, sending a memo to all 30 teams that the league could vote later this month at the Board of Governors meeting. Grantland.com was the first to report on the upcoming changes, which, if approved, could be implemented next summer.
Changing the odds for the best and worst teams to miss the playoffs is under consideration, as is drawing for the top six draft spots. Currently, only the top three spots are drawn before the rest of the teams are slotted on inverse order of finish.
The Cavs have won three of the past four lotteries, cashing in on a 1.7 percent chance in May to steal the No. 1 pick. That lottery victory made the August trade for Kevin Love possible.
Given the Cavs’ current roster and future outlook, they shouldn’t be back in the lottery for the foreseeable future. But it’s worth noting the odds were already overhauled once after the Orlando Magic won consecutive lotteries in 1992 and 1993.
Now that the Cavs have won consecutive lotteries and three of the past four, it’s on the verge of happening again.
By wire sources