Signed in the summer of 2010 and traded to the Hawks in the 2012 Joe Johnson trade, Jordan Farmar spent almost two seasons (2011-12 campaign was cut in half due to injury and the lockout) as the Nets’ backup point guard–on some really bad teams–for their final years in New Jersey.
After leaving the Nets, Farmer was waived by Atlanta, played a season in Turkey and then returned to his hometown of Los Angeles to play for the Lakers, where he spent the first four years of his career, for the 2013-14 season. Then, this past summer, Farmar went to the other team in town–the Clippers, who the Nets play tonight at Barclays–on a two-year deal.
But, he was pretty ineffective backing up Chris Paul and played just 14.7 minutes in 36 games before being waived on January 16th. That means he’s on the open market and, would you look at the that, the Nets happen to need a legitimate backup point guard really badly.
Starter Deron Williams (fractured rib) has been out since January 7th and Brooklyn has gone just 2-9 in the 11 games he has missed. In D-Will’s absence, regular second-string point guard Jarrett Jack has had to step up and play 30+ minutes every night as he tries to fill the void. Jack has done a bang-up job considering the circumstances but, as a result of the situation, Darius Morris has played 10-20 minutes a game as a hybrid reserve guard.
Morris is not an awful player but the drop-off from Jack’s play to his is significant and the argument could be made that the Nets would have a few more January wins if they had a better option than Morris to go to while Deron is still on the mend. He might return soon but it’s fairly clear that Morris does not deserve a roster spot on this team even with a healthy Williams and Jack.
The Nets could always look to the D-League to pick a player up on a 10-day deal–like the Timberwolves recently did with former Net Jorge Gutierrez–or they could look at a guy like Farmar, who has been around the league for awhile and already has some familiarity with the organization.
He wouldn’t cost much and could just be signed for the rest of the season as a stop-gap measure. Farmar can score, hit open threes (which Morris, and the rest of the team for that matter, is really bad at) and run the offense effectively, a quality he has shown throughout his career. The problem is that Billy King seems to want the Nets to keep their 15th roster spot open for a possible Deron/Joe Johnson/Brook Lopez trade, which really hamstrings the team if a deal isn’t made soon.
Farmar just makes too much sense for the Nets right now. I understand wanting to leave a spot open for trade flexibility and saving some money but I don’t understand not making a move that can improve the team right now when the postseason is still a possibility. Remember, the Hawks are probably going to get the Nets’ first-round pick this year so tanking–or anything resembling–is completely out of the picture. Your move, Billy.
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