It seems we've reached the end of Jordan Farmar's time with the Lakers. ESPN's Ric Bucher is reporting that he has agreed to a contract with the New Jersey Nets that will pay him $12 million over three seasons. Because Jordan is an unrestricted free agent, the Lakers have no matching rights. Au revoir, young man.
No surprise that Jordan is inking with another team. He was looking for a pay raise and a chance to become a starter, and the Nets at least offer him the first of those things. In his four seasons with the Lakers, Jordan made an average of $1.24 million per year, so his salary is more than tripling. Especially with Steve Blake on board, the Lakers weren't about to pay him anything close to that. Devin Harris remains the nominal starter in New Jersey, but with the Nets in the midst of a youth infusion, it would make sense to see him on the trading block shortly. Even if Farmar isn't the starter right away, he'll get his shot soon enough.
So congrats to a guy who played a key role on two Laker championship teams. He'll have fun living in the NYC area, and in Brook Lopez and Derrick Favors he'll have a couple very solid low-post options to work with. Clearly, he's joining a team whose future could be very promising. We wish him all the best.
(Update, 5:10 p.m. - Some of the other national NBA guys are disputing the Bucher report. On Twitter, Adrian Wojnarowski says that the Nets and Farmar are still talking dollar figures, and Sam Amick says that the Nets are one of four teams Farmar is still considering.)
(Update II, 5:20 p.m. - Broderick Turner has spoken by phone with Farmar, who says of the three-year/$12 million offer from the Nets, "It's on the table. Both sides are trying to figure some things out. I'm definitely interested.")
(Update III, 7:20 p.m. - Woj is now reporting that the deal with New Jersey is done.)
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