Blazers Favorites to Sign Shaun Livingston

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Shapecity

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Free-agent guard Shaun Livingston, fighting back from a devastating knee injury, had private workouts with the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the past 48 hours and league sources expect him to sign with one of three teams next week.


Livingston worked out in Portland on Friday, and two league sources believed the Blazers are the favorites to sign the ex-Los Angeles Clippers guard. Still, it is unclear whether Portland general manager Kevin Pritchard has been convinced enough to add yet another guaranteed contract to his roster.


Minnesota executives Jim Stack, Fred Hoiberg and coach Randy Wittman traveled to Chicago on Thursday to watch Livingston at Tim Grover’s Attack Athletics facility. The Wolves, sources said, were sold on the workout and want to sign him.


The Miami Heat are still in strong contention for Livingston, a 6-foot-7 point guard.

Livingston suffered a devastating knee injury in February 2007, tearing three of the four major muscles in the knee. He missed the rest of the 2006-07 season and all of last season before the Clippers renounced his rights in July after signing Baron Davis and drafting Indiana’s Eric Gordon.


Livingston just turned 23 and several franchises were still intrigued with the tremendous possibility he had shown with the Clippers. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft out of high school and had just started to honor his talent in 2007 when he blew out his knee.


League executives who’ve watched him estimate his return to full strength at anywhere from 70 to 85 percent. He has shown some of his old explosion in workouts but has tired easily and clearly needs more time to build back the strength in that knee. Signing him would be an investment for the future, with few short-term returns.

“I don’t think you’ll get anything out of him this year,” one NBA executive said. “He’s going to need a year to adjust.”

Earlier in the week, Livingston had told friends that he believed the Heat were the most interested in him, but that was before the workouts with Minnesota and Portland.
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Source: Yahoo Sports
 
I think it would be a good idea for Portland. Let him rehab his knee, next year we probably won't have Sergio and may not have Blake anymore, so signing Livingston to the minimum could pay dividends in a year if he shows us loyalty for taking a chance on him.

And if he can actually one day produce again.

I mean come on, the other guys they are contemplating are Steven Hill and Luke Jackson
 
I think that would be cool, just to have him around. A guy like that has got to be motivated, that can be contagious.

If he became a good player, it would be a bonus.

If he is a good guy, go for it.
 
JFizzleRaider said:
I think it would be a good idea for Portland. Let him rehab his knee, next year we probably won't have Sergio and may not have Blake anymore, so signing Livingston to the minimum could pay dividends in a year if he shows us loyalty for taking a chance on him.

And if he can actually one day produce again.

I mean come on, the other guys they are contemplating are Steven Hill and Luke Jackson
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The only reason I want Luke Jackson would be so the Blazer fans can scream Luke for him when he is playing in garbage time with us up 20 over the Lakers. :ghoti:
 
I think this would be a fantastic move by the Blazers. They're one of the few teams that can be patient with his rehab, as they have a loaded backcourt already. Next offseason. if it looks like he's going to come back at the level he was at with the Clips, we can cull the roster and make a Pippen-like trade (a group of middling players for one big one).
 
I still wonder what type of contract he'll be content with. Next season, he'll probably be overpaid no matter what since he'll need most of the season to still rehab. Obviously, he doesn't want to lock himself into a potentially too cheap deal for year 2.
 
cpawfan said:
I still wonder what type of contract he'll be content with. Next season, he'll probably be overpaid no matter what since he'll need most of the season to still rehab. Obviously, he doesn't want to lock himself into a potentially too cheap deal for year 2.
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I think it would be a three-year deal with a player option for year three around $3-$4MM annually. Year one is rehab money, year two would be to see if he can play and year three would be insurance for him.
 
maxiep said:
I think it would be a three-year deal with a player option for year three around $3-$4MM annually. Year one is rehab money, year two would be to see if he can play and year three would be insurance for him.
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At that price I think it would be too much
 
Why would anyone want to pay that much to him? You guys do realize he was never able to shoot and the only thing that made him unique was that he was quick for his size. He's dislocated both knees now, the last one was definitely career threatening and ultimately might be career ending/ruining. Unless he REALLY developed his shot while he's been out, Livingston is done.
 
JFizzleRaider said:
I think $2 million a year is more than enough.
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Ok, I will take it.

As for livingston J_Ray, he would be worth having just for discussion sake if some of the players ahead of him suck.

We could have some good arguments about whether or not he should be playing.
 
I don't mind Livingston but I'm not sure he would get any playing time. I really like Bayless for the future. I also think we could use Hill for another big with Frye and LaFrenz both out.
 
Tortimer said:
I don't mind Livingston but I'm not sure he would get any playing time. I really like Bayless for the future. I also think we could use Hill for another big with Frye and LaFrenz both out.
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I think signing him is a no-brainer if the team thinks his health warents. We have the luxury of playing him in the NBDL I thinks and do not have to bring him along quickly at all. He should be signed if...

gatorpops
 
J_Ray said:
Why would anyone want to pay that much to him? You guys do realize he was never able to shoot and the only thing that made him unique was that he was quick for his size. He's dislocated both knees now, the last one was definitely career threatening and ultimately might be career ending/ruining. Unless he REALLY developed his shot while he's been out, Livingston is done.
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The Blazers are in a unique situation where the owner doesn't care about spending money if he think it will help the team.

Maybe the Blazers can get Livingston because they are the only team willing to pay him for the up coming year where all he will do is rehab. I made the analogy of stashing him on the IR all year (like you stash players in europe) and think more towards the next year. If it works, and Livingston can make it back, you get him cheap and have his bird rights (3 year contract with team option on 3rd year).

If it doesn't work, then Allen blows about 3-5 million . . . coming from an owner who pays 3 mil a pop for draft picks, no big deal.

The one area it hurts is it takes a roster spot up . . .
 
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gatorpops said:
I think signing him is a no-brainer if the team thinks his health warents. We have the luxury of playing him in the NBDL I thinks and do not have to bring him along quickly at all. He should be signed if...

gatorpops
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I'm not sure Livingston can play in the NBDL. You can only play 1st and 2nd year NBA players in the NBDL. I do agree if he is close to being healthy I would sign him. I'm sure the Blazers are checking real close before even thinking about signing him.
 
Tortimer said:
I'm not sure Livingston can play in the NBDL. You can only play 1st and 2nd year NBA players in the NBDL. I do agree if he is close to being healthy I would sign him. I'm sure the Blazers are checking real close before even thinking about signing him.
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Yeah, wasn't too sure about the NBDL when I wrote it, but I do stick by the rest of it however.

g
 
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