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Heat trade Shaun Livingston to Grizzlies

The Miami Heat announced today that they have traded guard Shaun Livingston and cash considerations to the Memphis Grizzles for a 2012 conditional second round draft pick.

UPDATE: Mere minutes after making this trade, the Grizzlies waived Livingston.

In four games this season, Livingston averaged 2.3 points and 1.0 assists in 10.3 minutes. The 6’7” guard signed with the HEAT as a free agent on October 3, 2008. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft.

Over the last few days there were several local Miami reports suggesting the team was set to waive/release Livingston, rather than trade him.

With Mike Conley, Kyle Lowry and oversized point guard Marko Jaric the Grizzlies are overloaded at the position. It’ll be interesting to see how long the team holds on to Livingston. So far he’s been unable to show full recovery from injury.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

–InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner

Antoine Walker charged with DUI

The AP reports: Former NBA player Antoine Walker was charged with suspicion of drunk driving in Miami Beach early Monday morning, further hurting his chances of playing again this season. Walker was driving a black Mercedes without the lights on when he was pulled over at 5:39 a.m., according to the arrest report. Officers detected a strong odor of alcohol and wrote in the report that Walker had a sleepy look on his face. He refused a breathalyzer test… Walker was being held Monday on a $1,000 bond and jail officials said they did not immediately know if he has attorney.

InsideHoops.com reader Goose says: Any word on the secondary charge of making a career out of jacking up careless jumpers?

Balanced Spurs take control early, hold off Heat

The AP reports: Tim Duncan scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and the Spurs trailed for only one possession in a nip-and-tuck 91-84 win over the Heat on Monday night, San Antonio’s 14th victory in its last 17 games… George Hill scored 15 points on 4-for-4 shooting for the Spurs, who got 11 points from both Roger Mason and Matt Bonner and 10 from Manu Ginobili. Dwyane Wade had 24 points and 12 assists—his eighth double-double of the season—for the Heat, who also got 15 points from Shawn Marion. Michael Beasley had his first double-double, 15 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, which starts a seven-game, 13-day, 7,461-mile road trip in Denver on Wednesday night.

Heat will trade Livingston

UPDATE: They aren’t releasing him. They have traded him to the Grizzlies.

The NBA career of tall, lanky point guard Shaun Livingston began in 2004 with the Los Angeles Clippers. But despite showing flashes of potential over his three seasons in L.A., the 6’7″ 185-pound Illinois native appeared to be backup material rather than worthy of starting.

Still, his future was bright, especially considering he came straight to the league from high school. The kid was only born in 1985.

Then came his nasty injury. You saw it. Proably the worst thing to look at I’ve seen in the NBA.

Now in 2008-09 he’s been riding the bench with the Heat. Playing just four games, and just 10.3 minutes per outing, Livingston has scored 2.3 ppg, not done much else, and not looked too hot in practice.

And now, the Heat are ready to say goodbye. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Ira Winderman) reports:

The Shaun Livingston comeback is over. At least for now. At least with the Miami Heat. Livingston was informed of his release after Monday night’s 91-84 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AmericanAirlines Arena, with the team expected to make a formal announcement later this morning… The contract Livingston signed with the Heat guaranteed only $370,000 for this season, a figure that keeps the team below the punitive dollar-for-dollar luxury tax on excessive payrolls.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum thread.

Wade ignites Heat’s 101-96 OT win over Nets

The AP reports: Soaring for blocks and acrobatic dunks, Dwyane Wade stuffed the Nets. Wade scored 29 points, had three key blocks in the closing minutes and the Miami Heat overcame a 16-point deficit to beat New Jersey 101-96 in overtime Saturday night. Wade did it all in the Heat’s biggest comeback victory of the season. The superstar went up high for two blocks on dunk attempts by 7-footer Brook Lopez, including one in overtime and another late in the fourth quarter, and swatted Vince Carter’s jumper into the stands in the final minute of regulation… Trailing by 16 points in the first quarter, the Heat rode a season-high 19 points from Diawara and 17 points from Michael Beasley… Keyon Dooling had 23 points, and Carter had 20 for the Nets, who won in overtime a night earlier against the Atlanta Hawks.

Devin Harris did not play.

Dwyane Wade has migraine headaches

The Miami Herald (Michael Wallace) reports: Another bout with migraine headaches forced Dwyane Wade to wear tinted goggles during Friday’s practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. Wade, who missed two practices last month because of migraines, said he wore them to help him deal with sensitivity to lights. He said he did not expect to wear the goggles Saturday. ”I’m just protecting my eyes [after] minor headaches,” Wade said. “They [teammates] said I look like a fool. But that’s all right.”

Un-Happy Birthday for LeBron: Heat beat Cavs

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade had 21 points and 12 assists, Mario Chalmers was 6-for-7 from 3-point range in a 21-point, eight-assist, no-turnover effort, and the Miami Heat dropped LeBron James’ pro record on birthdays to 0-3 by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-95 on Tuesday night… Fittingly, James scored 24 of his game-high 38 points after intermission, almost enough to rally Cleveland from a 16-point deficit—its largest of the season… Daequan Cook scored 17 points—with all five field goals being 3-pointers, meaning he and Chalmers combined to go 11-for-14 from beyond the arc—for the Heat. Shawn Marion (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Udonis Haslem (13 points, 10 rebounds) added double-doubles for Miami… Delonte West scored 20 for Cleveland, which had won six straight, and Mo Williams added 10 for the Cavaliers.

Cavaliers cool off Heat 93-86

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 33 points—four more than his good buddy Dwyane Wade—and took on the challenge of guarding the NBA’s leading scorer down the stretch as the Cavaliers remained the league’s only unbeaten team at home with a 93-86 win over the Miami Heat on Sunday night… Mo Williams scored 20 before fouling out and Ben Wallace had 14 rebounds for the Cavs (26-4), who won their sixth straight. In the final seconds, Wallace and Varejao played a game of volleyball over the basket, tipping missed shots repeatedly before one dropped through to seal Cleveland’s win… Miami rookie G Mario Chalmers strained his right hamstring in the fourth.

Dec 26: Heat 90, Bulls 77

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade scored 28 points, Daequan Cook hit three big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Miami pulled away, and the Heat eclipsed last season’s win total by dominating the second half and beating the Bulls 90-77 on Friday. Mario Chalmers had 16 points and six assists while Beasley—the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, after the Bulls chose Derrick Rose—scored eight of his 14 in the fourth for Miami (16-12), which won its fourth straight and surpassed the dismal 15-67 mark of a season ago… Ben Gordon had 15 points for the Bulls, who shot just 37 percent. Larry Hughes scored 13 for Chicago and Derrick Rose finished with only 10 on 3-for-14 shooting… Udonis Haslem tied a season-high with 14 rebounds, while Cook scored 12 points for the Heat. Aaron Gray had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls. Chicago lost forward Luol Deng to a sprained left ankle with 7:52 left in the third quarter.

Dec 23: Heat 96, Warriors 88

The AP reports: Dwyane Wade had 32 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Daequan Cook scored 15 of his 20 points to spark a second-quarter comeback, and the Heat matched last season’s win total by beating the injury-depleted Golden State Warriors 96-88 on Tuesday night. Udonis Haslem scored 16 points and Shawn Marion finished with a Heat season-high 16 rebounds as Miami reached the 15-win mark in 27 games—55 fewer than it needed to get there last season as the NBA’s worst team… C.J. Watson scored 18 points for Golden State, which has lost 16 of 19. Kelenna Azubuike scored 16, Brandan Wright added 12 and Anthony Randolph finished with 10 for the Warriors, who got within four points in the final minutes but simply couldn’t stop Wade, who delivered four points and a big assist to Marion with the game on the line.