Jeremy Lin’s days in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform are already numbered and it’s already dawning on the Harvard graduate, especially now that the NBA trading deadline is drawing nearer and nearer.
This realization may have likely come to the four-year point guard especially upon learning that the Lakers management are bent on getting the services of Jordan Farmar, who was just waived by its crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Clippers let Farmar go when it acquired Austin Rivers from the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade. Austin Rivers is the son of Clippers General Manager and coach Doc Rivers and he is likely to get the playing time as a point guard coming off the bench, reports Travellers Today.
Farmar on the other hand would give the Lakers an added depth in its point guard rotation, which now has Lin, Ronnie Price and rookie Jordan Clarkson. It could have been a loaded roster but veteran Steve Nash is already out for the season, and likely out of the team soon too.
Returning to a former team for the 2nd time
Farmar actually started his career with the Lakers so he will just be returning to his former team if ever. He was taken 26th overall by the Lakers during the 2006 NBA draft.
He played for the Lakers during the team’s championship seasons in 2008 and 2010 where had a crucial role coming off the bench.
He spent one year playing in Europe before returning to the Lakers in the 2013-14 season, where he averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 assists in 22 minutes.
During the offseason, he signed a two-year $4.2 million deal with the Clippers only to be waived by the team midway to the current NBA season.
The Lakers certainly has a lot of room in its salary cap to take in Farmar and it is likely that general Mich Kupchak will get his services.
No way to go but out
With the possible entry of Jordan Farmar on the point guard rotation of the Lakers, there’s already no way to go for Jeremy Lin but out.
Like the Lakers, he is just waiting for an interested team to take him and his $8.3 million contract that will also end after the current NBA season. The Lakers acquired Lin from the Houston Rockets during the offseason, on the third year of his three-year $25 million contract.
While initial reports have it that Lin could likely be traded to an Eastern Conference team, the Miami Heat in particular, the team is already in the tax threshold and can no longer afford to get him, cites Realty Today.
Latest word is that Jeremy Lin would most likely go to the Phoenix Suns. But the Lakers and Suns management have yet to confirm whether a trade deal is in the works between the two teams. But the teams would most likely make some movements before the NBA trade deadline expires.