FanHouse Shaunlivingston

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 -- 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?

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.

Shaun Livingston had been reported to be one of the early victims on the traditional early January guillotine. If Livingston survived Wednesday, he'd see his full-season contract guaranteed. But the team told Livingston Tuesday he'd be waived on Wednesday. Miami instead shipped Shaun to Memphis for a conditional future second-rounder. [UPDATE: Memphis waived Livingston.]

Meanwhile in Memphis, Darius Miles saw his shot at a real comeback delayed (at least) as the Grizzlies cut him before his guaranteed contract kicked in. Miles has been with Memphis for a while, serving a 10-game suspension earned for alleged use of banned diet pills before playing limited minutes in two games for the Grizzlies. Portland's cap space gets a last-minute (possibly temporary) pardon from Memphis, I suppose.

The Clips played facilitator over the past two days. On Tuesday, L.A. took Cheikh Samb off Denver's hands in a Nuggets salary dump. (A minor one, at that.) Similarly, Toronto sent cheap swingman Hassan Adams to the Clippers Wednesday. L.A. promptly cut Adams.

Why even do this trade? The Raps could have cut Adams to prevent the guarantee of his full-season contract. But doing so would have set the already paid portion (a few hundred grand) against the team's 2008-09 cap. If Toronto ends up over the luxury tax line (likely), every dollar on the cap figure matters. L.A. is under the tax line, so the few hundred grand tagged as Adams' cap figure won't hurt at season's end (and L.A. isn't paying a dime of it). Team cap figures are calculated at season's end, so you'll see more meaningless moves like this in February.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (via Peninsula is Mightier) reports resolution in the odyssey to find Shaun Livingston an NBA home. Livingston will apparently sign a two-year contract with Miami, and expects to play later this season.

If it seems Livingston has received a ton of press considering the low likelihood he'll be a difference-maker this season, it's because he has. But that's all owed to the remarkable potential he showed in spurts through the 2006-07 season with the Clippers. He's young, skilled and dynamic. Why wouldn't folks place a small bet on him? That's what the Heat have done here.

If he can help this year, all the bigger reason for Miami to reel him in. The Heat currently have Chris Quinn, Mario Chalmers and Marcus Banks at the point. Quinn and Banks could be acceptable back-ups and last-string starters. Chalmers is a rookie who might be a very poor man's Mike Bibby someday. None of these guys, at this point, could be starters on a contending team. Livingston doesn't meet that threshold either, but he has the potential to in the near future if he recovers decently. With little on the line, it's a good acquisition. And in few other locales (Golden State, New York) will Livingston have a bigger opportunity to earn minutes than in Miami.

Note: Update at the bottom.

HOOPSWORLD reports the Blazers will announce the addition of Shaun Livingston to the roster later this evening (4PM EST). To be honest, Carl Landry's Charlotte offer sheet is the bigger news in real basketball terms (as in, Houston would lose a lot by shrugging Landry off), but Livingston's a big name 'til he retires, so a lot of ink will spill on this move.

Portland's point guard set fascinates me. Steve Blake is the incumbent, a crafty but restricted shooter who defends better than the others. Clearly, the Blazers aren't satisfied starting him. Sergio Rodriguez had planned to be the flower of the Northwest, but he and Nate McMillan have some sort of disconnect (likely to be defense-related). In successive years, the Blazers have drafted 19-year-old PG prospects: Finland's Petteri Koponen -- a kid the franchise almost brought over the sea for this coming season, someone both McMillan and Kevin Pritchard appear to be very high on -- and Jerryd Bayless out of Arizona. Pritchard moved up in the lottery to get Bayless at #11.

Blake's got to be trade bait if Bayless develops or McMillan gets Livingston minutes at the point. There is, of course, the possibililty Livingston has been acquired to add depth at the swing positions. As Livingston has made his recovery, murmurs that a loss in quickness from his gruesome injury would force Shaun to small forward or two-guard made the rounds. Without Koponen and with Rodriguez in flux, the Blazers would surely like an able point guard should Blake be jettisoned -- Bayless has a learning curve ahead of him. But this could also be a move for the next couple years, where -- should Portland move Travis Outlaw -- depth behind Brandon Roy, Rudy Fernandez and Martell Webster becomes a concern. Roy, Fernandez and Livingston, in particular, are flexible players who can run the offense or play off the ball. There's a lot McMillan can do here, and it'll be interesting to see how it shakes out (assuming HOOPSWORLD's report is accurate).

UPDATE: The Oregonian disagrees with HOOPSWORLD's report, and says Pritchard has told the media Livingston won't be signed. Timberwolves, Heat: you're back on the clock.

Two of the names on the list of squads considering Shaun Livingston as a dice roll won't suprise you: Miami, a team light of point guards, and Minnesota, a team absent of acceptable point guards. But the third, according to a Yahoo! Sports report from Adrian Wojnarowski, might knock you off-center for a second: Portland.

The Blazers, of course, have 74 players on payroll. If Woj has this one right (no reason not to think so, a bloated roster has never stopped Kevin Pritchard before), those jokes about Paul Allen's buying a European club to stash his junior team don't seem out-of-hand.

Minny seems to be putting on the press, though, which is no brainer for a team rolling with Sebastian Telfair (one of the worst players in the league last season) and Randy Foye (as two-guard as they come) at the point. (That Kevin McHale couldn't pry Kyle Lowry or Javaris Crittenton from Memphis in the big Mayo-Love deal remains astounding.) Miami, despite landing one of the steals of the draft in Mario Chalmers and re-signing, uh, Chris Quinn, has a serious need for stardom there, as well.

Of course, the last reports about Livingston's future indicated he might be forced by lost athleticism to move to the wing instead of the point. Miami has huge needs there, as well. Minnesota? Not so much. I think the opportunity for playing time would serve to push Shaun away from PDX, but Pritchard has a way of angering the rest of the league with daft moves. We'll see.

Chris Mullin is a rock. He is an island.

He is incredibly chill about losing his $66 million point-guard for 4 months.

As reported by the irreplaceable Tim Kawakami, Mullin told local reporters that though disheartened by the loss of Monta Ellis for the start of the season, he is not in panic mode. Kawakami reports that Mullin and Don Nelson are looking at their options, including inserting Marcus Williams as starter, or going to a bigger lineup with Stephen Jackson and Corey Maggette. Mullin also said he will be going to a long-scheduled meeting in Chicago with former Clipper Shaun Livingston. Livingston, as you may know, kind of has his own injury issues to work out, but Mullin says he's not in any rush because he "has enough ball-handlers, even without Ellis."

While the Warriors are archetypically comprised of big men that can run and score, they still need a central point guard, and preferably one with speed, to execute Don Nelson's offense. The idea of a Stephen Jackson-Corey Maggette-Brandon Wright/Anthony Randolph-Al Harrington- Andris Biedrins lineup is fascinating, though. It would be like a fleet of giraffes. Not going to frighten you in any respect, but you will stop and watch it for a while, just because it's so bizarre. My first thought when I heard about the Ellis injury, other than "Fate is cruel" was "They should look at Livingston." Livingston had a ton of talent and potential before his knee exploded like the Fourth of July, and he's worth taking a look at.

Hey, at least you can see the worst case coming in that scenario.

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.