Lakers Buy Time on PG Situation, Sign Shannon Brown

Lakers salary breakdown (link)

The Lakers are signing Shannon Brown to a two-year, $4.2 million deal. The way I see this is that the Lakers are basically buying time to decide who is going to take over as Fisher winds down the last year of his current contract.

If Brown can continue to develop on the flashes of brilliance he showed in the playoffs, he could be the next in line. He's making more money than Jordan Farmar next year, which probably didn't make the confident, cocky Farmar too happy.

Farmar has shown great potential, compensating for his size with grit, quickness, and decent outside shooting. His ball-handling is solid as well, but he has a long way to go before calling himself the starting point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers will develop both in the triangle with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum. They will then re-sign the one that they want, and let the other one go to another team. They won't be able to pay the future market value for the fully-developed guy they don't take.

Ironically enough, coach Phil Jackson doesn't like using young point guards, so it should be interesting to see how this plays out—along with Jackson's future with the Lakers. If he does come back for more than just next year, he might want a trade for another veteran PG unless Fisher can somehow continue to produce, which I don't think he will be able to.

That could be something Brown and Farmar should think about when they consider a future in LA.