Washington is above the cap. They would have to send back 3.4 Mil in salary to the Rockets to make this work. The only player in that range I would really want back would be Jan Vesely. The Wizards would probably rather just signing a backup PG out of the D-League than give up someone like Vesely.
Some unfortunate sanity to bring to this thread. Since the all-star break in 2009, Livingston has been pretty healthy. During that span he spent a brief time at PG, before reverting to be mainly a wing player. The reason is that he simply cannot guard the point guards in the league, and doesn't offer enough in running the offence as a point. To be blunt, those who think Douglas isn't a point need to watch some post 2009 Livingston! His main role in the last 2 seasons has been as a wing defender and slasher to the hoop. He has absolutely no outside shot. I'm just not sure what future there is for a guy who is a mediocre slasher, decent defender but can be doubled off every play since he can't shoot? Especially when we have better wing defenders on the roster who CAN shoot. Forbes is essentially the same player with a jumpshot, and is much cheaper. The only reason I can think of to keep Livingston on the roster is his contract, $3.5m with only $1m guaranteed. Could be a useful way of matching salary later in the season. No doubt Brockman gets cut, most likely Smith is gone (he'll get snapped up by the Vipers and I'm sure we'll keep an eye on him), the most obvious choice for the final cut is Livingstone because of his contract - but then again it might be more prudent to cut JJJ to keep the 'flexible salary' on the roster.
I think Livingston should be the backup point guard. They may play him with Douglas and let Douglas play SG offensively and switch to PG defensively. But Livingston should be running the second unit offense, in my opinion.
I agree with your post except this statement. Forbes is not the same player as Livingston. Their games are totally different. One is a shooter with no other outstanding skills. The other is a non-shooter but a superb passer and very good handle. That is why he has been a PG all his life even with such a height.
I'm not sure if this has been posted before, but this thread seems like the right place for it. This is Hollinger's player profile for Livingston:
He sees the floor better then anyone on this roster. His to read the Hornets offense and act accordingly defensively and vice versa on defense/offense was pretty impressive.
Before the devastating fracture, Livingston was a very highly-rated and well thought of up and coming point guard. IMO, he is looking better and better. An injury doesn't take away your brains, doesn't take away your floor vision. It may have taken some of his athleticism. It may have taken away some of his aggressiveness. But he's still a skilled playmaker. And he's still relatively young in basketball years. IMO, in his minutes he has looked like the best playmaker for this team...even better than JLin. However, I am not advocating he should start or is better than Lin. I suspect we're going to be seeing a different Lin when the season starts for real. But I don't see a better option to play behind Lin than Livingston. I will question McHale's coaching ability if he can't see this himself and if he keeps Livingston out of this team's rotation. If McHale runs Douglas out there as the backup point, it's not going to be good. Douglas is a good point defender. But he's not the setup man for the offense. Machado can run the break very well. But at this stage of his career he does little else effectively. McHale has to see that Livingston is really his only choice to man the offensive point behind Lin.
Like I said earlier in the thread, Douglas and Livingston are a natural fit together off the bench. One is a undersized SG and the other is a oversized PG. The guy out of the rotation is Lamb, who won't be ready until next year or after the allstar break at the very earliest.
