Assessing Shaun Livingston’s Impact on the Warriors
Shaun Livingston has incredibly important role on this Golden State Warriors team. Yes, Stephen Curry and Andrew Bogut are the most important players to the Warriors’ success, but Livingston fills a role that was mostly empty on last year’s Warriors team: backup point guard.
Livingston missed training camp with a toe injury and got off to a somewhat slow start to the season, but ever since he got back into his basketball rhythm, he has been shooting the ball well, playing well alongside the Warriors’ reserves, and providing the Warriors with much more depth.
Livingston’s stats this season might not stand out too much (5.6 points, 2.9 assists, and 50.6 field goal percentage in 17.7 minutes per game), but his value isn’t seen in basic statistics.
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First of all, Livingston can play either point guard or shooting guard and guard up to three positions. If he plays alongside Curry, he can play the point, which allows Curry to move off the ball and focus more on shooting, or he can play the two and allow Curry to do the majority of the ball-handling.
Livingston can also play point alongside Klay Thompson, and he can play either point guard or shooting guard when playing with Andre Iguodala, as either Livingston or Iguodala can take on the distributing and the other can focus on scoring.
Livingston adds elements to the Warriors’ offense and defense that no other player on the Warriors’ roster provides, except for maybe Iguodala. Both players can play and guard several positions, but they play somewhat different styles.
They’re both distributors and can set up their teammates on offense, but Iguodala is more of a slasher (to the basket) and spreader (to shoot the three), whereas Livingston can post up and shoot mid-range or close-range shots. Iguodala is a better defender, but Livingston is still a solid defender.
Livingston’s 6-foot-7-inch frame gives him a very unique skillset, especially for a point guard. It also makes him hard to defend, because point guards are often too small to guard him. When point guards try to guard him, Livingston isn’t afraid to post up the defender and back him down. In addition, his point guard skills make him a tough guard for a shooting guard as well.
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His versatility would be invaluable on any NBA roster, especially coming off the bench.
Second, he provides a contrasting style of play to Curry’s, which is important for a backup point guard. Since Livingston is a completely different player than Curry is, it forces the defense to play differently when Livingston is on the court, and it forces the defense to have a different mindset. Making an opposing defense have to constantly adapt is a skill, and having backup players that provide contrasting styles to the starters is a valuable asset for a team.
Livingston changes the dynamic of the bench, given his style of play. This makes the opposing defense have to work harder, which can work to the Warriors’ advantage. The Warriors lacked a backup point guard last year that could change a game the way Livingston does.
Third, Livingston provides stability and consistency at the backup point guard role, which the Warriors didn’t have last season, as previously mentioned. Between Toney Douglas, Kent Bazemore, Nemanja Nedovic, and Steve Blake, the Warriors received little to no production from the backup point guard spot last season, which caused Curry and Thompson to play more minutes than they should have given the lack of scoring and distribution from the backcourt reserves.
January 5, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston (34) dribbles the basketball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 117-91. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Livingston has ample experience as a backup point guard, but he also has starting experience. Given this, he could fill in for Curry or Thompson if they got injured (knock on wood), which couldn’t be said last season about Douglas, Blake, etc.
Livingston was the ideal candidate for the Warriors’ backup point guard at the beginning of this past offseason, but it was unclear if he’d be available to the Warriors. Given his great year last season with the Brooklyn Nets, it seemed like lots of teams would want to sign him and could potentially offer bigger contracts than the Warriors could.
However, the Warriors prevailed and signed him to a three-year, $16 million contract. Livingston wanted to be a part of the Warriors because of their young core and ability to contend this season.
Livingston has been such a crucial addition to the Warriors this season, and although his stats might not be extremely impressive, he has had a huge impact on the Warriors so far. He could be a key piece to the Warriors’ quest for a championship.