Report: Shaun Livingston Pushes Warriors Contract Guarantee Deadline Date
June 29, 2019
Golden State Warriors point guard Shaun Livingston reportedly agreed to delay a $2 million payment on his $7.7 million non-guaranteed contract for the 2019-20 NBA season from June 30 to July 10.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium provided the update Saturday, noting it gives the Dubs more time to decide whether to keep the veteran reserve following the initial wave of free agency.
On Thursday, Mark Medina of the Bay Area News Group reported the Warriors were planning to buy out the final year of Livingston's contract.
Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle noted another possibility was the 33-year-old Illinois native retiring from the NBA and transitioning into a front-office role, potentially with Golden State.
Livingston averaged 4.0 points, 1.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game in a limited role across 64 appearances for the star-studded Warriors during the 2018-19 campaign.
The journeyman role player has never averaged more than 10.0 points in a season since the Los Angeles Clippers selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2004 draft. He's made stops with nine teams, including two stints with the Washington Wizards, across 14 seasons.
In April, he told Anthony Slater of The Athletic retirement was on his mind.
"Yeah. For sure. Absolutely," Livingston said. "It's just all the signs on the wall. And just more so from a physical standpoint. If I'm healthy and having fun, then I want to play. But physically, if I'm not ... Like, I put so much work in my body just to get back to playing basketball, let alone get to this point where I'm at."
The Warriors should have a much better outlook about their roster for next season by July 10, after any major free-agent deals will likely have been agreed. By pushing the contract deadline back, Livingston has given the team a chance to see whether he can fit under their salary structure.
If Golden State opts to let him go, he'll then have to decide whether to seek offers from elsewhere or hang up his basketball shoes for good.