NBA Free Agency Rumors: Warriors keep Shaun Livingston
By Tom West
After coming to an agreement with Kevin Durant, the Golden State Warriors are continuing a remarkable NBA free agency period by retaining Shaun Livingston.
The Golden State Warriors just agreed to sign Kevin Durant, so it’s safe to say the team and their fans are beyond excited about such a franchise-altering acquisition. Not many truly expected he’d leave the Oklahoma City Thunder until it actually happened, so the rest of the NBA go forward in fear.
However, Durant wasn’t the only great deal by the Warriors on Monday. While he may not be on the same level, the return of Shaun Livingston is a tremendous move for the team.
Marc J. Spears of ESPN reported that the Warriors will be picking up his team option for 2016-17.
Guard Shaun Livingston has been told Warriors will pick up his team option paying $5.8 million for next season, source told @TheUndefeated.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 4, 2016
On top of the fact that Livingston does so much to help the Warriors’ second unit, keeping him thanks to a team option for only $5.8 million is excellent news for the team.
In today’s market with a $94 million salary cap, point guards like Austin Rivers (three years, $35.7 million), Jeremy Lin (three years, $36 million) and Matthew Dellavedova (four years, £38 million) have all received massive new deals. While many argue it isn’t deserved, it’s appropriate to the cap and teams have money to spend. Plus, with so few notable point guards on the market, the need for the best available is even higher.
With Livingston, the Warriors have their man, and he couldn’t be much more of a steal at only $5.8 million for 2016-17.
He uses his 6’7″ frame to create mismatches that few point guards can, and from his ability to post up against smaller guards or use that size and his smooth stroke to fire away from mid-range, he’s a helpful scorer and reliable ball handler that they can count upon to run the offense well without Curry.
With Durant first and Livingston second, Warriors fans are having a pretty good July 4th.
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