FanHouse Shaun Livingston

The Thunder waived guard Earl Watson on Friday and Watson is expected to sign with the Indiana Pacers as soon as his one-week waiver period expires. The Thunder will have to pay Watson a portion of final $6.6 million of his contract and it gives Oklahoma City more roster flexibility.

The move may be an indication that former lottery pick Shaun Livingston has cemented himself as the reserve point guard and it gives Watson a chance to play significant minutes. That wasn't going to happen this season for OKC, which is preparing for the future.

LAS VEGAS -- It was five years ago that Shaun Livingston made his summer league debut for the Los Angeles Clippers. He was a rail-thin 18-year-old with a large Afro and immense talent to match. He wasn't physically developed, but the point guard from Peoria Central High School was tabbed as cornerstone for the Clippers -- he just needed time.

LAS VEGAS -- The question for the Oklahoma City Thunder is whether premium free agents will want to play in a city with little NBA reputation. That question will loom large in coming years because the Thunder will have a satchel full of money and cap space to attract an All-Star caliber player to join Kevin Durant, James Harden and Jeff Green.

Until then, the Thunder will rely on the draft and clever moves such as the mid-season signing of Nenad Krstic and the acquisition of former lottery pick Thabo Sefolosha. Oklahoma City has one of the NBA's lowest payrolls -- although many critics would say that's due to the thriftiness of owner Clay Bennett -- and just $20 million committed to players after the 2010-11 season. But will any of those potential 2010 free agents -- a class that includes LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Dirk Nowitzki -- consider the Dust Bowl?

ORLANDO – He's only 23 years old, but Shaun Livingston already sounds like such an old soul. There is a good reason. He's been to basketball hell and back.

Livingston is continuing his miraculous comeback here -- from that horrific knee injury he suffered in the 2006-07 season -- at the Orlando Pro Summer League, hoping to earn a roster spot next season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

He may never be the player he once was projected to be, but just seeing him on the court moving well again should be an inspiration to anyone trying to return from an injury.

"I'm not a success story yet,'' he said after his seven-point, six assist performance in a Thunder victory over the Magic Monday. "But I will be.''

A week ago, Shaun Livingston was toiling with the Tulsa 66ers in the D-League, still waiting for an NBA team to take notice and give him the chance to resume his once-promising career. Oklahoma City's front office noticed and like what they saw: instead of signing Livingston to a mere 10-day contract, they gave him to a multiyear deal.

Terms of the contract have not been disclosed, and there's a good chance "multiyear" is just a fancy way of saying "the last nine games of this season plus all of next year," but still, that's a nice bit of security for Livingston, who's NBA comeback stalled this year after playing in just four games for the Miami Heat before being traded to the Grizzlies, who cut him loose before he played a single game.

Earlier this summer, Shawn Livingston seemed a long ways away from making a return to the NBA. As recent as June, he wasn't able to work out on consecutive days and was limited to non-contact drills. Now? Steve Kyler from HOOPSWORLD has an update:

Livingston has been playing full contact, full court basketball in Chicago under the guidance of NBA trainer Tim Grover, and is said to be getting his explosiveness and swagger back. Supposedly Shaun is dunking the ball and attacking the basket against NBA guys in Chicago. In all fairness, those who have seen him say he's not back to a 100%, but is closer to 75% to 80%.

So how soon until he regains that extra 25%? Grover told the Orange County Register on Friday that Livingston will be ready for training camp. Of course, there's still that little matter of an NBA team actually inviting Livingston to camp, but it seems like Livingston is confident that won't be a problem.

The Clippers renounced Livingston's rights earlier this summer, but that was strictly a financial decision to save the team $5.8 million. According to the LA Times (via Clips Nation), the Clippers actually wanted to bring Livingston back and offered a guaranteed contract worth the league minimum. It was only after he rejected that deal that the team closed the door on his return by signing Jason Williams.

There's no way that Livingston would have left money on the table if he didn't think more (and potentially better) offers would be on the horizon. If he's truly regained his swagger against NBA talent, the word will get out, and his contract situation will take care of itself.

This offseason, NBA FanHouse will address important questions about the league. It will be a Summer of Answers. First up: the biggest draft busts of the decade.

Unless you're a fan of the Toronto Raptors or a huge NBA Draft nerd follower, you may have read that headline and thought, "who's Rafael Araujo? Never heard of him." That was my initial thought anyway, and that, my friends, is exactly why Mr. Araujo comes in at number four on our Biggest Busts of the '00s list.

When you look back at the 2004 draft, everyone taken in the first seven picks before Araujo turned out to be productive NBA (or Euroleague) players. Well, except for Shaun Livingston who had the gruesome knee injury two seasons ago. But that's no biggie, right? The talent level could have simply dropped off after that point, and Araujo could have been the first on a long list of disappointments who just happened to be drafted eighth overall. Unfortunately for him (and the Raptors), this was a very deep draft.

Players selected after Rafael (pronounced "HA-f-eye-ell" if you believe NBA.com) include Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Kevin Martin, Sasha Vujacic, Beno Udrih, Anderson Varejao, Pape Sow ... just seeing if you were still paying attention. The point is this: when a player is selected with the number eight pick, with this much talent still on the board, and his career averages over three seasons are under three points and three rebounds a game, I don't know if "bust" is a strong enough word to describe his NBA status.

The Suns have spent most of the off-season trying to find a backup point guard to spell Steve Nash. But so far, every one of their targets have signed elsewhere. The latest player to fall off the Suns' radar is Tyronn Lue, who agreed to a two-year deal with the Bucks for around $3.9M.

The problem for the Suns has been that all they have to offer somebody is a veteran's minimum contract, which isn't enough to lure anyone of any significant skill. So who's left that might actually take those low dollars for a chance to play in Phoenix? Two names that have come up are Jason Williams of the Heat, and (at the moment, former) Clipper Shaun Livingston.

Williams would be an acceptable pickup I think, and Livingston is still on the road back from that famously horrific knee injury (that I refuse to link to anymore, it was so brutal). The Clippers renounced Livingston's rights, so he's now an unrestricted free agent. He'd be a great signing at the right price, but probably wouldn't be able to contribute until the second half of the season.

Short of the Suns signing one of those guys, they're looking at second year player D.J. Strawberry running the point, or getting a little exotic and using Boris Diaw. But Steve Kerr is all about making things interesting (or tearing the team apart, depending on your perspective) so I wouldn't be surprised to see Phoenix make a trade to fill this need before the start of next season.

After much hand-wringing and "100 degree" reversals, Ron Artest decided against opting out of the final year of his contract with the Kings. By staying, he'll earn just $7.4 million, or less than half of the $16 million that guys like Elton Brand and Baron Davis left on the table in search of greener bank accounts pastures.

But while the Kings know they'll have Artest back (even if he's only a bargaining chip to be used in a trade), the same can't be said for Beno Udrih. Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee reports that the Kings called Udrih the first moment they were allowed to offer him the full mid-level exception over five years, but that may not be enough. Instead of settling for a mere phone call, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy met face to face with Udrih last night in New York to make his pitch.

There's no word yet if the Clippers will match Sacramento's offer -- and they may not be able to commit to anything until figuring out what they're going to do with Brand and Corey Maggette -- but it's not surprising to see that Dunleavy made contacting Udrih a priority. The Clippers desperately need a point guard after finishing last year with Smush Parker and Brevin Knight sharing duties and officially giving up hope on Shaun Livingston, whose rights were renounced.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

The Clippers' 2008 season was derailed before it even got started. Injuries to Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston, along with the mid-season defection of Sam Cassell (ring-chasing bastard) left the Clips with a lot of holes in their roster.

Picks: #7, #35.

Needs: Guards. Dan Dickau was running the point for most of last season, and it was painful to watch. Fortunately, the Clippers seem to know this, and have been working out guards like crazy the past couple of weeks.

Best case scenario: That the team trades up and gets someone like O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless. The Miami Heat are said to be open to trading their number two pick, and the Clippers "secretly" worked out Mayo last week.

More likely scenario: If they stay at seven, then Russell Westbrook or Eric Gordon should be on the board. Either would do fine and provide some immediate help, though I would prefer Westbrook as he seems slightly further along in his development.

Please don't take: Joe Alexander or Brook Lopez. The Clips probably won't do this, considering how depleted they are at guard. But both are thought to be legitimate NBA players, and, well, the Clippers have done stranger things over the years.

Trade possibilities: Working out O.J. Mayo last week makes you think the Clippers are considering trading up, and would have a sign-and-trade player in Corey Maggette to deal. Is that along with the Clippers' seventh pick enough to entice the Heat? Stay tuned.