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Livingston Update

Article below was just posted today on Yahoo Sports.  My assessment first:

A deal with Portland would be brilliant by Pritchard (since they don't need him right now and he can roll the dice with so many other great young players already in tow) but I'm not sure I understand why Liv would want to sign there.  After all, he would have the same issues there as I believe he did with LAC - namely, no clear path to a major/starting role.  Minn or Miami makes more sense in this regard.

One issue that was not addressed is why the Warriors didn't sign him, which is curious since the tryout received so much copy in advance... and then... nothing.  Between GSW's need for immediate help and the opinions expressed below, it sounds like Liv is not ready now nor will he be in the early part of the season, if at all.  (Note: I added the bolds to the article).

 

Livingston workouts attracting interest 

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports

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 also still in strong contention for Livingston, a 6-foot-7 point guard. Livingston is planning to work out for Heat president Pat Riley early this week in Miami.

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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