Shaun Livingston will have an opportunity to be Jason Kidd’s backup point guard for the Brooklyn Nets. (Image from i.cdn.turner.com)
Under new coach Jason Kidd, point guard play will be highly scrutinized and analyzed for the Brooklyn Nets.
As a former point guard himself, Kidd has an All-Star PG in Deron Williams in the starting lineup, but a lack of depth has surfaced with free agent C.J. Watson skipping town for the Indiana Pacers.
Addressing that need, Brooklyn went out and signed backup point guard Shaun Livingston, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.
Brooklyn has reached an agreement with Shaun Livingston on a one-year, minimum deal, league source tells Y! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 6, 2013
The 27-year-old point guard has spent eight seasons in the NBA, bouncing around with seven different NBA teams, most recently the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards during the 2012-13 season. Livingston’s best year came in 2006-07, when he averaged 9.3 points, 5.1 assists and 3.4 rebounds as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Livingston had a promising career coming out of high school, but injuries have derailed his NBA career, most notably a dislocated knee cap in 2007 that saw him miss the entire 2008-09 campaign.
He’ll be competing with 2012 rookie Tyshawn Taylor for the backup point guard position and given his size, skill set and experience, Livingston should be the front-runner to win the job.
At 6’7″, Livingston has a lot to offer to the Nets besides just veteran leadership and experience though.
While he’s not an outside shooter—Livingston is a career .209 shooter from beyond the arc—Livingston excels at finding his teammates and driving to the lane. The Nets needed more facilitation from the 1 and they certainly got it by signing Livingston, and according to Nets Daily, Kidd played a big role in the acquisition.
With Livingston on the court, Brooklyn’s defense will improve thanks to his lanky and quick figure, as will the Nets’ rebounding, given Livingston’s size and aggressiveness on the boards. Having a quality PG like Livingston provides Brooklyn the opportunity to rest Williams and feel confident knowing that Livingston can run the floor.
This move definitely comes with some risk—there’s no doubting he’s been injury prone for his entire career—but the Nets aren’t putting too much of their salary toward Livingston’s deal, making this a move with a lot of upside, especially given the point guard talent around him, both on the court and on the bench.