It was the kind of game where Jordan Farmar usually got a lot of run. The Lakers were up by 15 in the second quarter, 26 in the third and the old legs of Derek Fisher were resting comfortably on the bench through the fourth.
Except that Farmar will spend the next couple months recovering from his Christmas Eve knee surgery. So Sasha Vujacic got his turn in the backup point guard role, playing all of the second quarter and from the middle of the third to the end of the game.
The result: 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting, 4 of 7 from three, a season high six assists and just two turnovers. An impressive performance.
But that hasn’t squelched the trade rumors, specifically that the Lakers want to bring back Tyronn Lue from Milwaukee, in exchange for Chris Mihm. Not shockingly, Mihm said after the game he wants to stay (and it is worth noting he did not see the floor in a blowout).
"I'm happy here," he said. "I've been through a lot in the last five years (his time in LA), and I feel like we're on the track to something special here. It's something I want to be a part of. I'm nine years in (the league), I want to win a title.”
Lue has had trouble getting off the bench behind two injured players for the Bucks, Luke Ridnour and Charlie Bell. But given the chance to trade a guard actually making more than Chris Mihm (and get a decent center back in return) the Bucks gave Lue a showcase against Detroit Saturday night.
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And Lue stunk it up. He shot 0-7 from the floor, 0-5 from three. He finished with two points, one assist and three fouls in 22 minutes. He got to cover Allen Iverson and made The Answer look a decade younger. It was not pretty.
Lakers fans, Lue is not your savior, we promise you. Sasha has earned a shot at the role, and it is a temporary one anyway. Farmar will be back in February.
But you can’t kill a trade rumor to the Lakers. Even a questionable one.
