Shaun Livingston Injury: Updates on Warriors Guard's Toe and Recovery

Updates from Tuesday, Oct. 21

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports provides an update on Shaun Livingston's status:

Original Text:

Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston is expected to miss a majority of training camp as he continues to recover from offseason toe surgery, general manager Bob Myers announced Tuesday.   

Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the news, noting it's possible Livingston misses the entirety of camp:

Livingston, 29, underwent surgery on his right big toe on Aug. 13 and was initially expected to be out six to eight weeks. Given the timing of the injury, Myers' pessimism isn't much of a surprise. An eight-week injury would keep him out until the middle of October, so the main takeaway here is that Livingston is on the slow end of the initial timetable.

The Warriors open training camp in October. Their first of eight preseason contests is against the Los Angeles Clippers on Oct. 7 as part of a weeklong stay in Los Angeles for games against both Staples Center tenants.

While odds remain in Livingston's favor for returning before the regular season opens, his absence is a concern. The former first-round pick signed a three-year, $16 million deal with the Warriors in July and was their only offseason signing of great import.

An excellent passer and solid defender with more than enough length to go against both guard spots, Livingston fills a hole left by Jarrett Jack, whom the Warriors let walk during the 2013 offseason. The Warriors tried and failed to replace Jack with a revolving door of talent that included Steve Blake, Toney Douglas and Jordan Crawford.

Livingston's injury has already cost him much of his offseason—he was diagnosed with the toe injury during his physical. The lengthier his absence, the more difficult it'll be for Livingston to establish a rhythm with starters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and gain the trust of new coach Steve Kerr.

As a member of the Brooklyn Nets in 2013-14, Livingston averaged 8.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. It was by far the best he's looked over a full season since suffering a gruesome knee injury in 2007 that nearly cost him his career.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

His comeback story was inspiring, but with a new contract comes increased expectations. Livingston is a unique player. He shot six three-pointers all season and 54 times outside 15 feet, shooting 28.3 percent on those attempts, per NBA.com. Curry and Thompson are widely considered the NBA's best shooting backcourt; finding the right way to work all three together in the most efficient manner was always going to take time.

Kerr will not be able to entrust Livingston to run the second unit alone without its offensive efficiency dying. He'll need to stagger Curry and Thompson's minutes to have a shooter on the floor at all times, perhaps playing Curry off the ball a bit more than last season. 

It's something Curry admitted the team will need to work on, according to Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:

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So I'm sure they have the game plan to make it work, and we have to be coachable and figure out how to put the pieces together and make the right plays. Coach and (his staff) have done their homework. I'm sure they'll learn on the job obviously, but they know based on our roster what to do to put us in the best position to win, so we've got to accept that.

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Finding the right balance here will be key. The fit was a bit of a question mark many raised at the time of Livingston's signing. With the injury keeping him out possibly into the regular season, it'll be interesting to see how Kerr's guard rotation shakes out when he returns.

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