Both Williams and Young play the role of a sixth-man, provide a scoring punch off the bench and aren’t known for their defense. It appeared clear that the Lakers considered Williams to be an upgrade over Young, with their decision to sign the former coming with the latter still under contract for two years.
However, whether or not the Lakers were correct in their analysis has now come into question. Lou Williams has not played particularly well for the Lakers, scoring inefficiently and often hurting the rhythm of the offense with poor shot selection. These issues are partially due to the fact that Williams is playing out of position at the point-guard, but his size makes it extremely difficult to play him at the two against most teams.