When discussing Shaun Livingston over the past 3 years following his debilitating February 26, 2007 injury the words “gruesome injury” followed by the inevitable “he was so talented” have become monikers leading to a laundry list of “what ifs” regarding how his career might have panned out.

Well, what if Shaun Livingston becomes the starting point guard for the Washington Wizards to finish up the 2009-10 season?

During a Saturday night game against a far superior Orlando Magic, and with Randy Foye continuing his self-imploding inability to play point guard, Wizards head coach Flip Saunders game Livingston his largest sum of minutes, 30:54, to strut his natural abilities running the Wizards. He finished with 18 points on 8-11 shooting with 8 assists.

Foye may as well prepare himself to ride some pine, especially after Saunders post game comments, undoubtedly inadvertently aimed towards Foye.

When asked if Shaun Livingston might replace Foye as the starting point guard:

• “I’ll take a look tomorrow and see, I don’t know.”
  
• “Randy’s in a tough spot. I’m tough on point guards, you know, I’ve had great ones. I expect a lot out of them. If the team doesn’t function well, it’s kind of like in football, they blame the quarterback. It’s the same way [with point guards].

• As point guard you have to have thick skin and it forces you to become a leader.
  
• “There’s a certain mentality to play that position. It’s very difficult to have someone who’s been a predominant scorer and now say, ‘we want you to think “we” instead of “me”.”

• “It’s like I’ve always said, point guards aren’t made, they’re delivered from heaven.”

It seems like the writing is on the wall. And why not? 18 points and 8 assists is exactly what you want from a PG.

Livingston is a natural at running a team. (Credit: picapp.com)

Speaking as a huge fan of Livingston’s, why not play him? He is on a 10-day contract, the Wizards have absolutely zero chance of going anywhere this year, so there’s nothing to lose. He represents the ultimate low-risk-high-benefit type of gamble that a rebuilding team should want to take a chance on.

Another reason to let him play: he is still only 24 years old.

It is not a question about his ability. Everyone in the basketball world knows the kid has skills, and an uncharted NBA IQ. He is coming back from an injury that will always have major asterisks attached to his name, but the guy is still a kid. With his smarts, and height (6’7″), he is a valuable asset for any team.

If Livingston can finish the season posting solid numbers and staying healthy while showing the natural born leadership (according to Flip Saunders) that no other point guard in Washington (inadvertently according to Saunders) seems to possess, then why not sign him to a multiple-year deal at the league veteran minimum?

Why not at least try pairing Livingston with Arenas, allowing Arenas play the 2. Arenas is more naturally suited for and unquestionably a prolific scorer, but a true point guard he is not.

The reality: Shaun Livingston is showing signs of life in Washington, and people around the league are taking notice. If he is not resigned by the Wizards, look for someone to take a chance on him and lock him up if he finishes the season logging starters minutes running the show in D.C.

The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Eric Maynor along with Matt Harping’s contract  in exchange for the rights to 2002 draft pick forward Peter Fehse. Fehse is in Germany with zero chance of ever playing in the NBA, but gives Utah much needed salary cap relief. The Thunder plan to allow insurance policies to pay the majority of Harpring’s salary.

Oklahoma City Waived Shaun Livingston and Mike Wilks to create space on the roster.

Eric Maynor revs up the PG depth for OKC. (Credit: dallythunder.com)

Eric Maynor has impressed this season and will secure long-term depth at the point guard behind Russell Westbrook. He averaged 18.5 PPG and 7.5 APG in 2 games as a replacement starter while Deron Williams was out, proving he is a viable option to step in should Westbrook go down with an injury.

This deal is a brilliant move by Sam Presti, whom dealt draft picks last year to acquire defensive stalwart Thabo Sefolosha from the Chicago Bulls. Presti is flexing his cap space to hand-pick key young talented components to build around Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Jeff Green.

The Maynor trade represents the first transaction for salary alleviation by Utah to offset matching Portland’s offer to Paul Millsap during the offseason.

Dumping Harpring’s salary removes $6 million off the books. It is unlikely Harpring will ever join the Oklahoma City thunder. He recently announced he wouldn’t pursue a comeback this year after dealing with infection in his leg after having surgery.

Utah will save up to $10 Million total from the deal.

This must come as a liberating start through Eric Maynor’s eyes. He was not going to get any significant run in Utah behind Deron Williams.

Look for Utah to continue wheeling and dealing, with Carlos Boozer or Mehmet Okur likely to be the next players traded to facilitate more salary cap room. With Chicago floundering wildly in the East, look for talks of Calros Boozer for Tyrus Thomas with a combination of leftover discussions to rekindle soon.

Blake Griffin had a spectacular Las Vegas Summer League and preseason filled with many highlights. Today it was announced he has a fractured kneecap, and he will miss at least 6 weeks.

Living in Los Angeles allows me to watch and examine every second Blake Griffin plays. This made me very excited, as he is simply awesome.

"I don't believe in the curse....." (Credit: ESPN)

I noticed him grab his knee after landing a bit straight-legged after flushing a stupid-powerful, one-handed tomahawk dunk vs the New Orleans Hornets. He kept on playing, and I just figured maybe he bumped knees with someone during the play.

Evidently, no such luck.

Routine monster dunk, untouched and unscathed, but unable to stick the landing. This beats the drum of Shaun Livingston, but is much worse.

Check it out:

In standard protocol of the legendary curse of the Los Angeles Clippers, this happened during the final preseason game. The Clipper nation basically had a few weeks to get fired up about their team’s future, only to have it shattered again. This curse must love irony.

If you drafted Griffin in your fantasy league, your fantasy league is now cursed as well.

What do the Clippers fans need to do to avoid this kind of bad break (no pun intended)? Sacrificial rituals?

In a more selfish view, this pretty much clears the path for my prediction that Stephen Curry will win Rookie of the Year.

My heart is truly goes out to the Clippers fans. Griffin made me sit up an pay close attention to the Clippers this preseason. His play is inspirational to his team. His relentless hustle is contagious, and the Clippers played far better with him on the floor than without.

Unfortunately, it seems like the Curse of the Clippers might be the only thing stronger than Blake Griffin.

5. Shaun Livingston G Oklahoma City Thunder: A career thus far plagued by injuries, most notably the one suffered in February 2007 against the Charlotte Bobcats in which he suffered a debilitating knee injury, dislocating his left kneecap after landing awkwardly following a missed layup, resulting in the left leg snapping laterally. Livingston injured almost every part of his knee, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament, the posterior cruciate ligament, and the lateral meniscus, badly spraining his medial collateral ligament, and dislocating his patella and his tibia-femoral joint. Ouch. During a brief stint late in the season, Livingston averaged 7.8 points on 53% shooting with 3.3 rebounds and 2 assists in 23 minutes per game. Will see time off the Thunder bench to make up a solid three-guard-rotation with rookie James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Landry is a strong defender of the paint and a rebounding force (Credit: picapp.com)

4. Carl Landry F Houston Rockets: A solid rebounder and finisher in the paint. With Ron Artest gone, and Yao Ming done for the season, Landry will see the floor much more. Averaged 9.3 points and 5 rebounds in only 21:18 minutes a game. If he’s on the floor for 30-35 minutes per game, his numbers should flourish. Landry attacks the rim, shooting a solid 75% from the line. The bottom line is this guy is just flat out tough. How many people do you know who could evade assailants in a foot race after being shot in the leg? That is exactly how tough Landry is.

3. Ryan Anderson PF/C Orlando Magic: He is the one of the reasons Courtney Lee was shipped to New Jersey.  The Orlando Magic love their 3-point shooters, and Anderson will fit right into their system with his ability to launch from deep. Anderson is fierce on the offensive glass, and has been tearing up the NBA Summer League competition. With Rashard Lewis being slated to move back to small forward after Hedo Turkoglu’s departure, Anderson could open up the middle for Dwight Howard by forcing big men out of the paint to defend his shooting. Will improve the Magic’s spacing. Few sets will be run for Anderson to score, but his offensive rebounding will get him many easy buckets.

CDR will have a solid year with Carter gone (Credit: picapp.com)

2. Chris Douglas-Roberts G/F New Jersey Nets: CDR must be one of the happiest player in the NBA now that Vince Carter has departed for Orlando. It is obvious New Jersey is going young, and Douglas-Roberts is a superb talent. He displayed potential late last season, and averaged over 12 points in the games he started. In April he averaged 10.8 points with 2.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds in almost 27 minutes a game. As his minutes increase we expect CDR to settle into his role, and be a solid performer at the NBA level.  At 6’7”, he has the athletic ability to move to the 3 if Courtney Lee is the starter at off guard. CDR was the leading scorer (18.1 points a game) on the Memphis team that went to the NCAA Title game in 2008. Too bad about those free throws. Carries a heavy chip on his shoulder, and look for him to do something about it this year.

"See what happens when I get minutes Nellie?" (Credit: picapp.com)

1. Anthony Randolph F Golden State Warriors: The youngest player in the NBA last season didn’t get consistent minutes until the team was eliminated from playoff contention and decimated by injuries. Don Nelson isn’t the most nurturing of coaches with young players and chances are Randolph would have blossomed sooner under the tutelage of a different coach. Scored 24 points and 16 boards against Tim Duncan and the Spurs in one of the final games of the year. Could one day soon be considered the best player from the 2008 Draft. Lamar Odom had nothing but praise for Randolph after they faced off last season, stating he could be a HOF caliber player.