Why not? Outside of Blake & Garcia we have no point guards. We can carry 15 players. He shouldn't be too expensive. I see no strong reason not to sign him.
I'd take a chance on him. IF he ever comes back to full health, a core of Livingston, Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Batum, and Sergio, and Rudy sounds pretty good to me (It sounds pretty good without Livingston too )
After hearing how bad his knee really is, I don't know if he'll be able to make it back this soon. I would rather not take a chance on him and keep an open roster spot in case we need to make a 2 for 3 deal, for instance. I really feel like we have enough talent as it is right now.
I'm all for signing him... even if he has to sit all year, rehabbing. While it eats up our final roster spot, there's no rule that states we have to keep him for the length of his contract if a better deal comes along and we MUST open a roster spot. It seems very, very unlikely that he will be a starting-level NBA player, but there's a chance, however minute, that he could recover and become a special player. I'd rather buy that lottery ticket than keep our 15 spot open or use the roster spot on Jackson or Hill. Ed O.
I agree.... sort of. I am a bit nervous about only having two true centers. If Pryzbilla or Oden gets hurt we are undermanned at that position, and there is no one for Oden to beat up on in practice. For that reason I am leaning towards Hill. Hopefully KP can work some roster magic and get us Livingston and Hill.
I agree with Ed O. Livingston is a guy I would wanna take a chance on, If he pans out after next season, it could pay huge dividends for us. IF it doesn't pan out, oh well cut your losses and you gave the guy a chance.
Living down in Clipperland, I watched Livingston play quite a few times. If he comes back to 90-95% healthy, and develops his weaknesses (shooting), even if he has to sit for a year or two, he would still be a bargain. The kid has a great handle and great vision.
When I think about Livingston being a good gamble..... I wonder if that is what the Celtic fans are thinking about Miles.
Could be but I don't think Livingston was a problem in the locker room when healthy. I hope Livingston didn't cuss out his coach etc. I think the Celtic's are making a mistake. Even if Miles makes it back I'm not sure they will have a better player then any other FA they could have signed. I really think it is partially getting back on the Blazers for Ainge.
I'm sure they are thinking the same thing. It's interesting that Kevin Pritchard has said that he wanted no part in allowing Miles to play, fearing that he might suffer a knee injury so catastrophic as to require knee replacement or possibly amputation of his leg. But now we have interest in signing Livingston? Is the situation really that much better? That said, I guess the Clippers never applied for the career ending injury status, so maybe his injury isn't as severe, though I do remember hearing about possibly having to amputate his leg at the time of the injury. From the first time I saw Shaun Livingston, I worried about his ability to stay healthy in the league. I guess if he's put on a little muscle, maybe he'd be able to play without blowing his knee out again, but I wouldn't count on it. Still...he's got enough talent to make him worth rolling the dice. I just hope I'm not watching if there's another Dave Dravecky type situation. Or a situation like he who shall not be named. (Sam Bowie)
Interesting perspective. However, I don't think their situations are exactly similar. With Miles it is cartilage issues and with Livingston it is ligament issues (correct me if I am wrong). His issue with Miles is that his cartilage is so bad that he isn't that far away from knee replacement surgery if he continues to play basketball. I think with ligament issues the risk is not the same.
That's exactly right. What Livingston needs is a full year under the tutelage of our conditioning guy and our shooting coach. I'm not so much worried about his upper body strength, but rather building the muscle in his legs so his (clearly weak) ligaments don't have to take so much of the stress of playing. It should be noted that when he had reconstructive surgery, his repaired ligaments are likely stronger than they were before. As for his shooting, that's just practice, practice, practice. The bottom line for me is that Livingston has those things you can't teach a basketball player--BBIQ and the ability to see the floor and anticipate how a play is going to develop. If he comes back bigger and slower, but with a jumper, he could be amazing for this team for 20 minutes off the bench. Being 6'7" makes up for a lot.
We only had really one true center last year. We have two very good centers this year (we hope). We will be OK with what we have in the case of injury for one or the other. I really believe KP is giving a very close look at signing Livingston. I hope, because it seems a very good gamble to me. g
I think we have the flexibility of going to a fast lineup of LMA or Frye at the five and TO/Frye/LMA at the four. It would cause the other team to adjust. Nate showed the ability to be successful with the Supes without a true center.
About being concerned about only having 2 true centers, spend some time and go back and look at the backups that past great centers had. Wil Purdue is about as good as it gets.
If we really need another young PG, I think it would be much less of a gamble to just bring over Koponen, and I'm not sure that his upside is all that much lower at this point.
If we bring over Koponen we lose the chance at Livingston. If we take a chance on Livingston, we keep our future chance with Koponen. Additionally, it's possible that Livingston would be a cheaper (in terms of salary cap) investment than PKop... but we don't know how much $$ Shaun would want, I guess. Ed O.
