Might the Lakers Trade Jordan Farmar?

The Lakers have until October 31 to offer Jordan Farmar a contract extension, but a report in the Los Angeles Times says the team isn't planning to do so. What that means for Farmar, of course, is that this season will be one where he'll be trying to increase his value on the semi-open market, by putting up some numbers that are larger than his career averages of 7.8 points and 2.4 assists per game.

Playing on a very deep team that's looking to defend a championship (rather than showcase individual talents), this is going to be very difficult to do. And that has to make you wonder if Farmar will still be on the Lakers' roster once the trade deadline for this season has come and gone.

Farmar wasn't all that happy with his reduction in minutes last season, and that was before he missed time with a knee injury. He made it back for the postseason, but by then, Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic had proved to be occasionally serviceable, which meant that they'd earned at least a share of the minutes that were previously reserved for Farmar.

The Lakers, as you surely know by know, run the triangle offense, which doesn't need a traditional point guard to make it go. When the second unit is in, Lamar Odom often takes on the responsibility of bringing up the ball and initiating the offense. So even though Farmar is the best of the reserves in that respect, what matters more in L.A. is the ability to defend on the perimeter, and knock down open shots.

These are areas where Farmar is still (arguably) the best of the backups. But at what price? This is what the Lakers' organization needs to decide.

Entering the season, the Lakers are over $21 million over the luxury tax threshold, so signing up to commit more money to their current roster is something that, somewhat understandably, the team is not in a hurry to get behind. But a potentially disgruntled Farmar, playing in a contract year, just might be looking to get his a little bit more than would be desirable for a team looking to repeat as champions.

If Farmar does decide to be the good teammate, however, and sacrifice his stats for the greater good of trying to fit in and win a championship, that could go a long way in his getting re-signed by the Lakers, or even getting a tastier offer than L.A. is willing to provide next summer.

But Iif Farmar doesn't play the role of the good soldier -- as Odom eventually did after griping about coming off the bench in last year's preseason -- then you could certainly see him being shipped out at or before the trade deadline, as the Lakers did last year with Vladimir Radmanovic, who was actually one of the team's starters for 28 of his 46 games in Los Angeles.

Let's face it: Derek Fisher isn't going to play forever, and Farmar's skill set seems to be one that would fit nicely in the Lakers' starting lineup, if and when Fisher decides to call it quits. But the team has been sensitive to finances (as we witnessed with the tense Odom negotiations this past summer), and they're most certainly not in a position to overpay for someone like Farmar.

There's a strong possibility that Farmar will get a bigger offer on the open market than the Lakers might be willing to match. But since Farmar will be a restricted free agent, L.A. has seven days to match any offer. And as we saw with players like David Lee this offseason, the offers for restricted free agents are few and far between, mainly because -- especially in the early stages of the free agent period -- teams don't want to have money tied up for a week in an offer sheet, while other free agents who are unrestricted are getting snatched up left and right.

If Farmar remains a Laker past the trade deadline, there's a solid chance the team retains him next summer. But if an offer of financial relief comes via a trade request, and Farmar either isn't producing or is unhappy with his limited role on this stacked championship-caliber team, it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see him sent packing before the All-Star break.