Golden State Warriors Season Preview: Shaun Livingston

If there was one focus for Bob Myers and the Warriors this offseason, it was adding more depth to an already deep team.

One notable acquisition was veteran combo guard Shaun Livingston. Entering his tenth year, Livingston will likely facilitate for a robust Warriors second unit, and his role will be pivotal to their success.

What he does well 

The long-serving, 6-foot 7-inch guard has never been much of a scorer, but he is adept at a number of other aspects of the game. He is a floor general coming off the bench, something the Warriors certainly lacked throughout least season after the departure of Jarrett Jack. His vision and playmaking ability will be crucial for the second unit to operate efficiently. Last season, in 26 minutes a game as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, he averaged merely above three assists, eight points, and three rebounds. His statistics have never been eye-popping, though his command and control of the offense — along with his veteran presence — travel beyond the analytics. He is a vigorous defender, and with an extraordinary height advantage at the guard positions, his versatility is advantageous, especially on defense. Livingston averaged 1.2 steals last season.

You couldn’t measure the monstrosity of free throw shooting in the NBA. Livingston is not known as a poor free throw shooter. His competence is evident with his career 80% shooting from the line. However, last season Livingston shot 82% from the foul line compared to his 87% from two seasons ago. The fact that he played ten more games and shot nearly 100 more free throws certainly has a direct correlation to his FT% dip, but the Warriors are going to need him to shoot around mid-high 80% from the foul line. Golden State was 19th in free throw percentage last season, sitting at a disappointing 75%. Outside of his floor command, the veteran’s offensive game consists of aggressively attacking the rim against his commonly undersized match-up; therefore, he makes many appearances at the foul line.

Best case scenario

The best case scenario is for Livingston to facilitate and make plays when he’s on the floor. He was not brought into the Bay Area to put up points on the board, fortunately that’s one of the last things this team needs. Instead, he was brought as a back-up point guard to All-Star Stephen Curry. Last season, Andre Iguodala‘s nine points per game matched his career low, and much of that had to do with him being asked to play a “point-forward”  role that led to a fall in other aspects of his game. Now that the Warriors have Livingston to relieve Curry, I expect to see Iguodala more aggressive offensively, resulting in more shot attempts and an elevated points per game.

Stat line prediction (averages per game) 

In his eighth and ninth seasons at the ages of 27 and 28, Livingston managed to play a total of 142 games. He is someone who’s been plagued by injuries throughout his career, but durability has not been much of a question as of late. I expect Living to play 60-65 games this season. I believe his stat line for the 2014-2015 season will look like this: 7.2 PPG, 4.5 APG, and 3.3 RPG. I’m expecting a jump in the assists category due to all the offensive power surrounding him.