Shaun Livingston ‘Very Familiar’ With The Golden State Warriors (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via Shaun Livingston’s Instagram account, @sdot1414)
After the NBA moratorium on free agency ends on July 10th, newly acquired backup point guard Shaun Livingston will sign a three-year deal with the Golden State Warriors for $18 million, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The contract is a substantial raise from the $1.27 million he made last year with the Brooklyn Nets.
“Golden State has the full non-tax-payer mid-level, which is a couple million dollars more to start (than other potential suitors),” said David Aldridge in a report on NBATV, “Basically, he went for the money, which I don’t blame him for.”
“The move leaves the Warriors armed with only a $9.8 million traded-player exception, of which they can use only about $6 million to acquire a capable-shooting big man,” the Warriors’ next immediate roster need, wrote Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Livingston has some pre-existing familiarity with the team he will be joining.
“I’ve known Andre (Iguodala) since I was 8 or 9 years old. Growing up in Peoria (Ill.), that’s not that far from Springfield (Iguodala’s home town), like an hour away,” Livingston told Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group in a phone interview yesterday, “I played with Andrew Bogut (in Milwaukee in 2011-12). I know David Lee from AAU. I knew him growing up. He’s a couple years older. I’m sure I’ll be able to fit right in as far as the locker room and the chemistry of the team.”
“He also went for the opportunity,” Aldridge added on NBATV, “He knew Andre Iguodala from Springfield where they both grew up in Illinois. He played with Andrew Bogut in Milwaukee. He’s very familar with their team and feels like he can trust Steve Kerr as a new coach. He just felt like it was a good fit for him at this point in his career. He wanted to go to a contending team, but he also want to go to a team that really wanted him.”
And as we reported, Warriors trainer Johan Wang was in the ambulance with Livingston on the night he injured his knee.
As news of Livingston’s impending signing with the Warriors broke on Twitter, Iguodala tweeted to Livingston, “you rollin… Or nah??? Don’t play with my emotions…” and later <a href="followed up with, “Is it true????? We got S Dot!?????!!!!!”
Livingston tweeted that he was “excited to be part of the movement”.
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