I don't like Farmar that much to be honest. He started off the season on fire last year, but once his competition (Crittenton) got traded, he started getting lazy. That's not the type of attitude I'd want coming from my future starting point guard. His defense also leaves a lot to be desired most of the time. He is still very young though, and obviously he can improve. But before we shed out big bucks to him, he needs to show he can play at a high level consistently, for the entire season, not just little spurts here and there.
Brian keep in mind Farmar was having a breakout season last year early on because Bynum was on the second unit. I think Farmar is a solid backup for us, but he needs to make serious strides on the defensive end for us. I can't remember Farmar stepping in to take a charge in the post season even though he has the quickness to beat his man to the spot and force an offensive foul. Deron Williams and Chris Paul killed him last season and completely exploited his unwillingness to man-up on defense.
Here's a chart of players who drew the most charges last season. Fisher was the best flopper in the league drawing 54 offensive fouls, in comparison Farmar only had 6. Surprisingly, Vujacic only had 12 and Kobe with only 8. 82Games.com
Farmar has to prove he's capable of replacing Derek Fisher and evolving into the future starting point guard. Usually players make a leap in their 3rd year and Farmar has every opportunity to show he's ready to take the reigns from Fish. The Lakers coaching staff has done a good job of developing their draft picks the last few seasons and the Lakers have shown they are willing to reward their players when they improve. Walton got paid, Cook got paid, Sasha got paid, Bynum will get paid, and if Farmar shows more improvement he'll also get a fair market value contract. The Lakers didn't use the MLE this offseason and you have to imagine they are saving that cap space to pay Farmar $5 to $6M if he steps up this season.
Farmar isn't worth much, imo. He got lazy when Critter was traded away and it really pissed me off. We all heard about his hard work ethic, but he did nothing to prove that. I wouldn't give him any more than Vujacic got.
What he gets is going to be based on what he does this season. If he plays like the Farmar we saw pre-Gasol trade, he should get a fair amount of money. However, if he comes out of the blocks and plays like crap, I just let him walk and consider him a lost cause. It's his 3rd year and this is around the time he should pick it up. If he doesn't show progression this year, cutting ties with him won't be too difficult.
My problem with Farmar is that if he needs someone to be constantly pushing him in order for him to do well, what's going to happen to him when we give him a long term contract...
Luke Walton played really well for us for an entire season, at one point, he was the third best player on our roster, and arguably the second most consistent player on our roster. Farmar struggles at times as a backup point guard...
Yea, actually that is true, he played quite well and was the 3rd best player on the roster, dunno maybe Bynum made a bigger impact though. blocking 1.56 bpg, 7.8 ppg on 56% FG%, 5.9 rpg. So he was making a difference on the defensive end, and was getting easy baskets on the offensive end.
Walton gave us 33 solid minutes a night and created shots for others in 2006-2007; Bynum was 2/3 that on average. Plus-Minus differential shows Luke/Puke was clearly more important to our team as well.
Run BJM probably has it right, because Farmar is going to money equal to other PGs with similar stats drafted late in Round 1. Here's a list of players Farmar will likely be grouped with. Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, Beno Udrih, Sasha Vujacic, Kyle Lowry, Nate Robinson, & Jarrett Jack
Farmar acts his age and and I've seen him force a lot of offense, but to be honest I like his skills and think he's going to develop into a really good player.
