Lakers a ‘dream come true’ for Nick Young

Nick Young is officially a Laker after agreeing to a one-year contract at the veteran’s minimum.

“We think there’s a lot of playing time here for him, if he works hard,” General Manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters on Friday. “We see him playing at the small forward position.”

Finding a starting caliber forward/guard may have made the decision to waive Metta World Peace easier for the Lakers. While World Peace will get his $7.7 million, the team will save about $15 million by using its one-time amnesty provision on the veteran forward.

“It’s a dream come true,” Young said.

The 6-foot-7 USC product is 28 years old. He played 22 games for the Clippers in 2012, helping the team advance past the Memphis Grizzlies in a hard-fought seven-game series.

It was Young’s hot-shooting heroics in Game 1 that helped the Clippers come back from a 27-point deficit.

Last season he played for the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 10.6 points a game on 41.3% shooting from the field and 35.7% from three-point range.

Young will make $1,106,941 for the coming season but the NBA will reimburse the Lakers for $222,648 -- standard practice when a player signs for a year at the minimum.

His salary cap number with the Lakers will be $884,293, the minimum for a player with two years’ experience.

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Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.