What should the Golden State Warriors do with Shaun Livingston this offseason?

Shaun Livingston has been a part of the Golden State Warriors historic run since the beginning.

The lengthy, 6’7 point guard has provided the Golden State Warriors fans with plenty of great performances and memories, but last year was his worst in a Warriors uniform.

Livingston’s legs are starting to give out, even though he is only 33 years old. In 2007, Livingston suffered a brutal knee injury where he tore his ACL, PCL and dislocated his Patella.

In an interview with Anthony Slater of The Athletic, Livingston admitted to thinking about retiring due to pain in his bad knee in April.

However, Drew Shiller of NBC Sports Bay Area, stated that Livingston is in no hurry to make a decision on his retirement decision.

If Livingston does not retire, the Warriors have options on the final year of his contract. For the 2019-2020 season, only $2 million of the $7.7 million is guaranteed. The Warriors have until June 30th to decide to keep Livingston for $7.7 million or waive him. The Warriors and Livingston could mutually agree to move the date to later in July.

Assuming that the date isn’t moved, let’s explore the options the Bob Myers and the Warriors have.

Waive Him:

Financially, the Warriors would save $6 million dollars if they waived Livingston. Since the Warriors have to pay the Repeater Tax, waiving Livingston would save the owners almost double or triple the original $6 million.

Livingston may be waived because of his on court production as well. His nearly automatic mid-range jumpshot started to decline this past season due to getting less lift on his jumper.

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According to Basketball Reference, Livingston shoots around shoots a majority of his shots between 10-16 feet. In his first three years with the Warriors, he made these shots at 46% twice and 52% from this distance. This year he only shot 43% from this distance.

The decline from this distance resulted in a bad scoring year from Livingston, especially in the back half of the season. He only averaged 4.0 ppg and only scored in double digits twice since January 1st.

His bad year was highlighted by a poor Finals showing. In a league that is dominated by three point shooting, Livingston refuses to shoot threes. This allowed the Raptors to ignore Livingston while defending the Warriors.

He was not the only culprit, but his lack of three point shooting resulted in a -13.0 net rating for the series, according to NBA.com. Only Quinn Cook had a worse net rating out of the main rotation players.

The Warriors have financial and basketball reasons to let Livingston go, but it would be tough to see a core piece of this run leave the team this way.

Keep Him:

Livingston can still bring value to the Warriors next year. He has been very well respected by all of his teammates and provides great veteran leadership to the team.

As a 6-foot-7 guard, Livingston will always be able to attack mismatches and switch on defense better than most guards. His ability to play multiple positions can prove to be very valuable if the Warriors are short on wings next year due to Klay and Durant’s injuries.

Livingston almost has a great understanding of Steve Kerr’s motion offense and makes the correct plays and passes within the system. This is can only be replicated by someone who has played multiple years with the Warriors.

Trade Him:

The Warriors will not be able to directly add a free agent for $7.7 million in order to replace Livingston due to being over the cap. However, the Warriors can add a player worth around $8 million by keeping Livingston and trading him near the deadline.

Teams looking to clear cap space for the 2020 offseason would be interested in Livingston’s expiring contract. The Warriors could add a player worth $8 million for multiple years if they use this scenario. This would be a great way to add a solid role player to the roster because the maximum the Warriors can offer a new player in free agency is around $5 million using the MLE.

Most Warriors fans would love to see the main core of this run stick together forever. Unfortunately, father time is undefeated and Bob Myers will have a lot of tough decisions over the next couple of years.

Since offering Klay and Durant the max contract is a no brainer, Livingston may be the first painful decision the Warriors have to make.