Livingston will have to wait his turn

The future isn’t quite yet.

Shaun Livingston, a 21-year-old who got the start on opening night, is back to backing up about-to-turn-37 Sam Cassell because ... he’s Sam Cassell.

“Shaun has the ability to be a star,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said before Monday night’s game against Portland, “but Sam is the guy we pencil in to be our starter. He’s the guy who runs our show. We know Shaun is our future and he’ll eventually replace him.”

Livingston is highly regarded by insiders -- “Shaun Livingston is as good as any young player in the league,” Phoenix Suns assistant Alvin Gentry said last week -- and by Clippers officials, who let it be known during the Chris Kaman negotiations that they are already putting aside cap room to re-sign Livingston next summer.

After a big preseason, however, Livingston started slowly, shooting 32% in the first three games.

“It comes down to, he’s 21 years old and it’s not going to be a straight line up,” Dunleavy said. “He’s improving. He’s clearly shooting the ball much better. I’m not concerned about that at all.”

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Portland guard Brandon Roy, the former Washington Husky, came into the game averaging 18.3 points, best among NBA rookies.

Roy, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who was the seventh pick in the draft, was also averaging 5.0 assists, tied for first among rookies, and 4.3 rebounds.

“We loved him in the draft,” Dunleavy said. “I think everybody had him penciled in as the rookie of the year coming in because of his experience....

“He’s been able to play a lot of minutes at the point guard spot. He can make plays off the dribble and create a lot of opportunities for his teammates. That’s something you don’t see in a lot of young players.”

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