With Monta Ellis' recent ankle injury, the Golden State Warriors are looking thin at point guard. Might the recuperating Shaun Livingston be the answer to the team's woes?
There have been reports that the former Illinois star has looked impressive in recent workouts during the summer—impressive enough that Warriors General Manager Chris Mullin has visited Chicago to obtain his personal insight.
At 6'7", Livingston is the league’s tallest point guard. The rest of the guard world trails behind by several inches.
Of the NBA’s most notable guards, Gilbert Arenas and Chauncey Billups stand at 6'4", trailing Livingston by 36 centimeters.
With Livingston’s amazing length, Golden State would have the tallest backcourt in the league with presumably Stephen Jackson, 6'8", at shooting guard.
Shaun averaged 9.3 PPG, 5.1 APG, 1.1 SPG in 54 games during the 2006-07 season prior to suffering the infamous, catastrophic knee injury that caused him to miss the rest of the 2006-07 season and all of last year.
Marcus Williams, one of the Warriors' new additions this offseason by way of a trade with New Jersey, averaged 5.9 PPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.9 RPG during the 2007-08 season.
Even with Marcus Williams coming over in the deal, I'm not convinced that the Warriors have a credible point guard. I was a fan of Marcus when he played for the University of Connecticut, and undoubtedly he has the tools—the ball control, size, patience, and court vision.
But the question is, after playing second fiddle to Jason Kidd for two seasons and Devin Harris last year, is he ready to take over the starting role? Is he conditioned enough to be effective in Don Nelson's offense?
The other option at point guard for the Warriors is second year player C.J. Watson, who Golden State signed midway through the season from the NBA's Developmental League.
Watson averaged 3.7 PPG, 1.1 APG, 1 RPG while appearing in 32 games last season for the Golden State Warriors.
13 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Mike Piccolo 10 months ago
Whoever decides to take a chance on Shaun Livingston will be a happy team. I'm just hopeing the Miami Heat will be smart enough to take that chance.
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Mike Turnell 10 months ago
Yeah I think a future starting line-up of Livingston-Wade-Beasley-Marion-(center) would be amazing. After that they would be set at every position except center.
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Sean Stancill 10 months ago
The Miami Heat have already found their point guard. Its Mario Chalmers.
Pat Riley is thrilled with Mario and will allow him to dictate the tempo in South Beach.
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Khalid Shakran 10 months ago
I hope the Warriors will, and it seems to be heading in that direction. The Warriors don't necessarily need Livingston to play right away. The Warriors, if they obtain him, need Shaun to rehab until the end of this season and start training camp ready and refreshed. Besides, Livingston might be a better Warriors' player because there is a point guard hole in that team.
Miami does have a point guard hole, but it is not a significant one. The Warriors, on the other hand, pretty significant that they're trying to move the injured and heartbroken franchise player into that leading guard spot.
A back court of Monta Ellis and Shaun Livingston....damn!
Thanks for the Article Sean.
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Sean Stancill 10 months ago
Livingston's arrival in Golden State would be lovely.
However, I'm also hearing that even if the Warriors do sign Shaun, he might not be NBA-ready until December. But it would be a nice long term investment.
I'm still holding out hope the Nuggets will come to their senses and make an offer.
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Jake Perper 10 months ago
this will be a good move for a team who needs a PG now that Ellis went down for a while
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greaser grease 10 months ago
whoever is going to take livingston will be gambling heavily. i saw when he injured his leg and man it wasn't pretty. i was sad that the clippers let him go. his injury was conscidered a career ending injury. so who knows what could happen.
but i agree with all your guys' comments it would be nice to see a health livingston with golden state!!!
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Dorothy Willis 10 months ago
Shaun was outstanding in high school, but going straight to the NBA may not have been in his best interest. During his short career he has had numerous injuries and lay offs. He has been given many chances. Almost like a thoroughbred horse that has been broken to race before it has matured, he seems very accident prone. Whether he can remain sound is a big gamble indeed. When he started out he was still growing into his frame and was knocked around a lot in games by the more matured big bodied players. Now he has matured and put on weight, but can his rehabed body take the added weight? Only time will tell, but as a member of the community he came from, I wish him well, he has some great people in his corner.
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isaac narell 10 months ago
i just watched the injury on youtube...
ouch, that was horrible
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Steven Resnick 10 months ago
Problem is why would the Warriors take a chance on a point guard who's been injury prone his entire NBA career. They're taking a huge chance if the Warriors offer him the league minimum maybe, but I don't see that happening they do need to get a point guard though so maybe Livingston is going to be signed the shooting guard for the Warriors is Maggette.
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Sean Stancill 10 months ago
The same reason the Warriors would take a chance on Stephen Jackson.
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Chris Birnbaum 10 months ago
Who would the Warriors cut to get Shaun on the team? I suppose Monta would be on the Injured list so that opens up a spot. When Monta Comes back, may be CJ Watson out of luck.
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Bobbo 10 months ago
Injured list players count on the roster.
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