The Los Angeles Lakers are having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season. So bad, in fact, the are on pace to finish with the worst regular season record since the team moved to Los Angeles.
Decimated by injuries – most importantly to Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash – the pieced-together squad was never able to gel and play team basketball. The team had already missed a combined 241 games due to injury as of March 17 (A number that will likely exceed 300 by the end of the year), which equals almost four NBA seasons.
Even with all of the injuries, many believe head coach Mike D'Antoni's offensive gameplan and defensive post-game deserve much of the blame. His “Antoni, because he has no D” nickname has been further solidified this season full force as the Lakers have given up a league-worst 109 points-per-game. D’Antoni was a questionable hire from the start – chosen largely because of his history and experience guiding PG Steve Nash-led teams in Phoenix.
Experts and fans alike concern – which came to fruition and then some – was that, at 39 and with a history of back issues, Nash was a serious injury risk.
Most of the players on the roster, by design, were signed to one-year contracts in order to keep the books clear for free agents in the upcoming 2014 and 2015 classes. This brilliant planning, three years in the making, took a hit when the team re-signed Bryant to a lucrative two-year deal worth $48.5 million.
Despite the historic struggles on the team, a number of players would love to re-sign with the team at the end of the season.
Jordan Farmar, who's mother is Jewish, is one of those players. The injury bug hit Farmar hard this year, as well, but when he was on the floor he was maybe the most consistent and productive player on the team.
Farmar matched his career high scoring 10.4 points per game while dishing out 4.7 assists. He shoots over 40% from the three-point line and is a model teammate.
Bryant has stated that we would like to play with teammates he is comfortable with during his remaining time in the NBA. Farmar and Gasol might be the two players who most fit that desire.
He would be an inexpensive option for a starting or backup point guard.
So, please, Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak, re-sign Jordan Farmar and let’s start putting the pieces back together again.
Other Lakers who have mentioned that they would like to stay with the team: Nick Young (though he will likely opt-out of his current contract) and Xavier Henry.
