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Nick Young was the prototypical wing player when the Washington Wizards drafted him with the sixteenth pick of the 2007 NBA draft.  The 6′ 7" 206 lb junior from the University of Southern California went to NCAA East Region Semi-Finals in his last college season and led his team in scoring with 17.5 points per game.

Fellow Trojan from California DeMar DeRozan, who is now with the Toronto Raptors, describes the best parts of Young’s game.

"His scoring ability," says DeRozan.  "He can score with the ball in his hands, off screens, and take you off the dribble.  He is a deadly scorer. That is how he has always been.  I definitely see it every summer back home, that’s how he plays."

Young’s first three seasons in the NBA, however, have not reflected his superior scoring ability, as he has had trouble getting into more than 20 minutes per game.  Now in his fourth NBA season, Young has career averages of just 9.4 points on 44 percent shooting in 19.3 minutes per game.

"As I told Nick the other day, we have been pounding on things for a year on how we want him to play and I think sometimes young players either the light bulb goes off and they finally figure it out from your constant harping or whatever it is and it finally gets through that if you are not going to play a certain way, your opportunity to play is not going to be there," explained Wizards Head Coach Flip Saunders.

This season that light bulb has finally come on for Young, and over his past 10 games, he has been averaging 17.5 points on 49.2 percent shooting in 27.1 minutes.

But Young didn’t get his opportunity to showcase his offensive prowess because he started hitting more of his shots.

"No one has ever really questioned his ability offensively," says Saunders.  "He has always been a great offensive player, but it is the other little things that he is doing as far as defense that has been one of the reasons that he has been able to get into the rotation and stay there.

"Defensively he has become one of our leaders as far as contesting guys shots and in field goal percentage against," Saunders continues.  "Those are the things that allowed him to stay on the floor."

"I think he (finally) understood that he had to change how he wanted to play in order to make sure that he was going to be a guy in the rotation."  

{AUTHOR_BOX}And Young does know why he is playing more as this season progresses.

"(Defensively) I have more of a purpose; I try to make it more noticeable because that is all I have been hearing since I came into the league.  So I am doing my best out there, trying my hardest, and trying to do everything they ask of me," Young explained.  "I have been playing with confidence and I have the faith of my coaches now and that is all I needed."

Young has finally figured out what it takes to be successful at the NBA level and we should expect to see continued improvements to his game as this season progresses.  He now knows how to be himself and do the things his coaches have asked of him.  And when a hard-nosed veteran guard like Kirk Hinrich sees the lights have come on, they should stay on for a long time.

"Ever since I have been here, Young could definitely score," Hinrich explains.  "My opinion before I got here was that he is an explosive scorer.  (Now) he is trying hard to do the right thing, concentrating on paying attention to detail and because of that he has been helping us out.  He makes the game easier because he can make so many tough shots and he can get his shot off anytime he wants.  He is doing a good job trying to defend and do the other things and still be who he is, he’s a scorer."

Young may have had trouble cracking the lineup over his first three seasons, but this year he’s finally showing the all-around game the Wizards hoped he would bring when they drafted him out of USC. For a team whose future prospects are tied to the development of young players, Young’s emergence will undoubtedly help accelerate their rebuilding plan.