Jordan Farmar Dealt to Atlanta; Buyout Expected

Jordan Farmar is reportedly part of a package trade that will send Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson, a six-time all-star, to the Brooklyn Nets, a person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press on Monday.

Along with Farmar, Atlanta will receive fellow guards Anthony Morrow and DeShawn Stevenson, forwards Jordan Williams and Johan Petro and a conditional, lottery-protected first round draft pick Brooklyn received from Houston in a prior deal.

The trade currently remains unofficial as it is pending on Stevenson first signing as a free agent with Brooklyn so he can then be included in the swap. Free agents cannot officially be signed before July 11.

On Saturday, Farmar notified the Nets, who relocated to Brooklyn from New Jersey this offseason, that he had decided to pick up the player option on the final year of his contract which would pay him $4.25 million this season.

But following the completion of the trade, the 25-year-old is expected to be bought out at Atlanta’s expense, making him a free agent this summer.

Farmar began the 2011-12 season with Maccabi Tel Aviv, signing a one-year contract with the Israeli club in wake of the 2011 NBA lockout. In seven games with Maccabi, Farmar, whose step-father is from Tel Aviv, averaged 14.1 points per game before returning to the Nets when the lockout ended in December.

During the shortened NBA season, Farmar battled lingering groin injuries and was limited to 39 games, during which he averaged a career-high 10.4 points per game, 3.3 assists per game and shot a career-best 44 per cent from 3-point range while backing up Nets starting point guard Deron Williams.

Farmar had originally joined the Nets as a free agent signing prior to the 2010-11 season after four years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

He originally served as the backup to former Nets point guard Devin Harris who was traded to the Utah Jazz in February 2011 for Williams. The Nets are now hoping to team Johnson with Williams, who resigned with Brooklyn as a free agent earlier this week.

Farmar is one of just three Jewish players in the NBA, along with New York Knicks power forward Amar’e Stoudemire and Israeli small forward Omri Casspi of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Thus far in his career, Farmar has averaged 7.7 points per game, 2.8 assists per game and has a 3-point shooting accuracy of 36.7 per cent.