Shavlik Signs with Portland

by wyn on Sep 25, 2008 12:17 AM CDT

According to Oregon Live the Portland Trailblazers are signing Shavlik Randolph to a non-guaranteed camp invite contract. While that my not exactly be a big deal in and of itself, it does mean that there's one less team in the hunt for Shaun Livingston:

The Blazers decided not to pursue free agent point guard Shaun Livingston, who is attempting a comeback after a major left knee injury that caused him to miss all of last season. "Shaun is a heckuva player, and I know he is going to have a successful season, but at this time, we are going to stick with what we've got," general manager Kevin Pritchard said.

So, if you're pulling for Livingston as the 15th player (over Chris Richard, Blake Ahearn and David Harrison, apparently), yahoo for you. And yahoo for Shaun Livingston, he deserves another shot at the NBA league.

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What do you think Wyn?

Ira Winderman thinks the Heat are going to pass on Livingston, and now Pritchard says the Blazers are passing. That leaves the Wolves from the supposed list of possibilities. Do you think he’s actually healthy? I’d love to have him back on the Clippers.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by ClipperSteve on Sep 25, 2008 2:38 AM CDT 0 recs

That Clippers depth chart looks a little full for Livingston.

Thanks for the tip on the Heat, Steve. I know it’s obvious to many people, but Winderman is one of the BEST beat writers in the NBA.

With Baron, Mobley, Gordon, Hart, Davis, J-Will and Mike Taylor, it seems like Elgin and Dunleavy really didn’t want Livingston back. I don’t quite understand how Taylor or Hart are more worth having though.

In fact, (although I can’t find it now) I seem to recall Sham having some sort of post on highlighting the curious strategy and timeline of the Clippers’ cap handling this summer. Something like they did some things earlier than they had to, thereby eating up cap space unnecessarily. Anyone else remember that?

As for Livingston, even if he’s 85% healthy, he’d definitely be our third point guard and would have time to work back in. That’s a good reason to agree with SnP that a two-year contract may be better if the Wolves are looking at Livingston for the long haul (which is something the team doesn’t have a lot of experience with).

by wyn on Sep 25, 2008 10:06 AM CDT up 0 recs

Hart and Taylor

I guess the logic on Hart is that he can be a capable third string point guard in case of injuries, whereas whoever signs Liv needs to be aware of the possibility of getting nothing this season. As for Taylor, he’s as much of a project as Shaun, without the upside; but his contract isn’t guaranteed – he still has to make the team in camp. So that’s the roster spot the Clips could use on Shaun.

I’d love to see that Sham post… of course we don’t have access to enough info to enough details to know EXACTLY what happened with the cap space, but certainly I had many questions about it re: the handling of Elton. For instance, they renounced/waived guys like Fazekas, Powell and Marcus Williams AFTER they had lost Brand – partly over ‘final offer ultimatum’ type talk. Not good. But it would not have changed the situation with Shaun much – his QO and his cap hold as a former first rounder were both enormous – they had to renounce him. And as I understand it, they did offer him a 1 year min deal, which he turned down, before they signed Jason Williams. And let’s face it, that’s the only contract offer he’s seen so far.

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by ClipperSteve on Sep 25, 2008 11:03 AM CDT up 0 recs

Contract wise

Obviously I’ve thought about this one a lot… for over a year now. With the Wolves bidding against themselves, they can probably offer him a 1 year guaranteed deal and be done. The best then would be a team option for a second year, so that if he comes back and looks great, you don’t lose him straight away. He would want a player option on that second year for exactly the same reason – to get paid if he proves himself healthy. But I assume he’ll take what he can get. He wants to play, so even if the Clippers offer is still on the table, I think he’d rather be in Minny (battling Telfair and Foye for the starting job) than in LA (hoping that Baron Davis gets hurt).

In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd

by ClipperSteve on Sep 25, 2008 11:10 AM CDT up 0 recs

I would have loved to see him in Portland, but if he signs with you and can come back more power to him and the Wolves

I wouldn’t really want to see him on a dysfunctional Heat team, and only hope whoever signs him doesn’t play him too early. In the workout with the Blazers, apparently he looked good for like 15 minutes and then started to wear down (he has only started to play full court again about two months ago). He probably wanted a guaranteed contract and some minutes this year, while the Blazers saw him more as a long term project and wanted to slowly bring him back to form in order to have a starter or backup for 2 to 3 years down the road when two of our PGs might be no longer on the team.

The guy is a special talent and a great kid (very involved in the community, has his own foundation what few players do already at his age). And while he was overhyped before the draft as the next Magic or at least Kidd e.g. by USA Today, he showed he can lead a team with his passes and plays few other PGs can make due to his size and incredible court vision with the Clippers.

The injury was horrible, but how to operate and rehab even multiple ligament damage in itself is well understood and athletes regularly make it back close to previous form after pausing a season or two in other sports (e.g. pro downhill skiing). I think he can come back, maybe in a smaller role, and his game never really relied much on athleticism anyway. Good luck to him.

P.S.: Regarding the opening of this post, Shavlik Randolph would be a pretty bad signing even for a 15th spot. And he also had severe injury problems, so what’s the point of bringing on a player who is completely not special, has little potential and wouldn’t even make for a good bench warmer fan favorite (like Hill or Luke Jackson could be). He won’t make it on the regular season roster.

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by Norsktroll on Sep 25, 2008 6:15 AM CDT 0 recs

Good lord...

…they have to sign the guy. Chris Richard? Blake Ahearn? These are dime-a-dozen players that you can find off the street in a pinch should you need a 15th man during the season. Hell, isn’t this is what the Skyforce is for? This is a no-brainer. Take a flier on the kid. They have enough cap space to absorb a 2 year deal with no hit to their future plans. It’s all upside for them; either he works out in 2 years or he doesn’t. Now, now, now, now, now. I’ve been begging for this signing for months.

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by Stop-n-Pop on Sep 25, 2008 7:16 AM CDT up 0 recs

Also, anyone noticed how bad the Clippers detoriated when Livingston went down? Granted, there are plenty of other reasons but I feel like Livingston was just as important as Brand in them making the playoffs.
If he was signed we’d have the perfect base for a championship contender in x amount of years + Livingston will have the chance of getting back slowly.

by Wim (Belgium) on Sep 25, 2008 10:01 AM CDT 0 recs