Los Angeles Clippers: Clippers Don’t Need Star Backup PG
By Marcus Bass
On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Clippers responded to the loss of Darren Collison by adding former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jordan Farmar.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was in contact with Farmar days before Collison signed with the Kings. After opting out of the second year of his deal with the Clips, Collison received a three-year, $16 million deal to become Sacramento’s new starting point guard.
Using their bi-annual player exception, the Clippers retained Farmar for two years and a total salary of $4.2 million. The second year of Farmar’s contract has a player option.
With regards to his departure from the Lakers, Farmer remarked:
"“They didn’t want to commit to me. I understood the situation with them, what was going on and would I be willing to wait. What am I waiting for? There was no real definitive answer. It was, Yeah, we like you, we’d love to have you here, but I didn’t know what I was waiting for. You don’t know who the coach is. You don’t know who I am going to be playing with. They made no commitment to me on that part.”"
It may seem as if the Clippers have made a commitment to Farmer, or perhaps they’re committed to what already works. Signing Farmar despite his sketchy injury history should be empowering to Clippers point guard Chris Paul.
Farmar is a serviceable player when healthy, however he’s not likely to be a driving championship force. His arrival to the Clippers, and the crap shoot that is the number of games he’ll play next season should give Paul the unmolested autonomy he deserves.
He’s solely responsible for the team’s tempo from tip to final buzzer.
Farmar averaged 10 points, five assists and 2.5 rebounds last season with the Lakers while shooting 44 percent from behind the arc. However he missed 41 games due to a variety of injuries.
That’s been a common theme with Farmar. He’s only appeared in 80 games in the last two seasons.
Responding to a previous question about his season:
"“If I didn’t get hurt, this season would’ve been a lot different,” Farmar said. “I had a pretty good season. I just had these annoying injuries."
After three seasons with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in a Clippers uniform together, the Clippers know what it takes to win. After a disappointing postseason, where distraction could be a justifiable excuse for early exit — Paul made a case for being on the floor more than the 35 minutes he averaged in the previous 2013-14 season.
In fact, 35 minutes a game in the regular season was the second-lowest in his nine-year career.
Paul recorded the highest field goal percentage in a postseason game in NBA history in which a player scored 30 points or more and had 10 assists or more. He also became the seventh player in NBA history to top 6,000 career assists before the end of his ninth season.
While he may seem like the elder statesman, Paul’s at the pinnacle of his career and talent. Signing a reserve guard that isn’t a sure thing to provide consistent back up minutes isn’t a bad thing — at least for the Clippers.
If you have the league’s best point guard in Chris Paul suiting up every night, a big time point guard reserve is a luxury, not a necessity.
Farmar’s capable of good things, he’s a streaky shooter and is capable of producing big plays. However with an inability to play off the ball – Farmar is expendable.
His addition to the Clippers is less of the big time back up they’ve grown to be accustomed to. For now it seems the Clippers are thinking more practice sparring partner and less second-unit general.
Farmar’s not a bad player, but he’s no Darren Collison or Eric Bledsoe. Certainly both players would give a huge boost to the team’s competitiveness, but at this point the Clippers don’t really need either.
Someone will have to sustain the Clippers while Paul’s resting. Even Clippers trainer Jasen Powell can’t keep Paul healthy enough to play every minute.
Farmar’s serviceable, even if the Clippers aren’t starved for service at that position. If he plays more than half the season, it’s like finding money in your pockets on payday.
You’re already feeling good about getting your paycheck, but the little bonus you discovered is enough to make you smirk.