Heat release G Livingston

Jan 6, 2009 - 11:33 PM MIAMI (Ticker) -- Shaun Livingston's brief tenure with the Miami Heat is over.

The Heat cut the 23-year-old point guard late Monday night. The former fourth overall pick has been recovering from a debilitating left knee injury that he suffered in February 2007 and caused him to miss the entire 2007-08 campaign.

He tore three ligaments in the knee, sprained his MCL and dislocated both his patella and tibia-femoral joint. But after more than a year of rehabilitation, he signed a conditional two-year contract with the Heat this summer that paid him less than half the veteran's minimum for a player with four years' experience.

However, Livingston had yet to break into Miami's regular rotation and his contract was set to become guaranteed for the rest of the season on January 10. He managed to make just four appearances for the Heat, averaging 2.2 points and 1.0 assist.

Livingston broke into the league in 2004 with the Los Angeles Clippers after being drafted fourth overall out of Peoria Central High School. Thought to be one of the league's most promising physical talents, the 6-7, 182-pound point guard has had trouble staying healthy throughout his career.

He showed flashes of brilliance while playing behind - and alongside - veteran Sam Cassell and played a prominent role for the 2005-06 club that advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

Over his first three NBA seasons, he missed 101 games due to a variety of injuries - the most serious of which was the knee injury that effectively ended his career with the Clippers.