The signing, which was described as being "on the verge" earlier today, is essentially a two-year deal which amounts to nothing more than the $1.9 million lower-level salary cap exception. Livingston will join a crowd in the point guard position with journeyman Marcus Banks, second-round pick Mario Chalmers, and undrafted guard Chris Quinn. All four will be fighting for one starting position.
Livingston, standing at 6'7", can provide mismatches for opponents on both sides of the court. He has great vision of the court and has great passing skills. First-year coach Erik Spoelstra compared Livingston's passing ability and size to that of a young Penny Hardaway. That's not a bad comparison for the 23-year-old, but Livingston was never Hardaway when he first came into the League.
In his rookie season, Livingston only played in 30 games and started in half of them. He averaged seven points and five assists per game. The best season of his career was in 2006-07, which was the one that ended with a sour injury. Livingston averaged nine points while shooting 46.3% from the field. Again, he averaged roughly five assists and one steal.
In some ways, this is Pat Riley rolling the dice. But in some ways, it's not. This was a low-risk, high-reward type of signing. He has been injury-prone and weak before his injury, but he's also got some skills. A criticism of Banks is that he's a not a true floor general. A criticism of Chris Quinn is that he's not very athletic. Livingston can be your answer. I realize that Chalmers has potential, but he's got to prove he can play well against the elite of the NBA. Livingston has more experience in that regard, and I'd put him in front of Chalmers for now.
I have no idea where Livingston will fit among Banks, Chalmers and Quinn. Maybe Spoelstra thinks he still needs some more work before he can hit the court. But this was not a one-year deal, it was a two-year deal. Therefore, it shows a little bit of a commitment to Livingston. I have heard reports that Riles is trying to trade Dorell Wright and/or Daequan Cook just so he can get below the luxury tax. I don't believe it.
First of all, the luxury tax shouldn't be that big of a deal when Livingston is making less than the lower level exception. Now, I can somewhat understand why Riley might want to trade Wright. He tried to groom him as a point guard over the course of a few summer leagues, and he hasn't panned out. Now you have a tall point guard in Livingston. But I can't fathom why Riley would want to trade Cook. He's one of the few lethal three-point threats Riley has. He's a valuable back-up to Dwyane Wade. Right now, I wouldn't be ready to put all of my eggs in the Yakhouba Diawara basket.
Banks has three years left on his contract, each paying him more than $4 million. He's a guy who I could see get traded. Banks hasn't been able to seperate himself from Quinn and Chalmers, who are more inexperienced than him. As mentioned earlier, Banks is not the best ballhandler in the world. He also is turnover-prone. He's a good spot-up shooter, but he wouldn't do a lot to take pressure off of Wade. Livingston would. The only question now is who will take Banks.
A backcourt of Livingston and Wade can provide numerous mismatches. But the Heat still lack a solid big man. Dwight Howard is the only dominant center of the East, but Beasley is going to have his hands full at times. Rasheed Wallace, Chris Bosh, and Kevin Garnett can all provide problems for Beasley. It will be important to have a defensive-minded center who can take off some pressure off of Beasley.
No comments:
Post a Comment