Free agency was chaotic in the NBA this offseason for about two or three days. The first 24 hours of this cycle of free agency was absolute chaos, with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving landing with the Brooklyn Nets. The July 5 saga where the Los Angeles Clippers snagged Kawhi Leonard from the Toronto Raptors and Paul George in a big trade deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder also completely shook up the contention picture around the league. This all happened while the Chicago Bulls had a relatively quiet free agency, as did former Golden State Warriors backup point guard Shaun Livingston until recently.
The news that the Warriors waived Livingston was first reported by ESPN.
What would the fit be like between the Bulls and Livingston if this pairing happened this summer?
Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen and John Paxson and Gar Forman would surely love the gritty veteran presence that Livingston would bring to the locker room. But the backcourt rotation would start to become too crowded by landing Livingston as the roster stands currently. He also wouldn’t be able to come even close to occupying a starting role. His veteran presence in the locker room would be the most welcome sign.
The Washington Wizards reportedly offered a veteran position to Livingston after the Warriors waived him. That’s more similar to what the Bulls could offer him if the backcourt was less crowded.
There have been rumblings for some time about the Warriors offering Livingston a role to stay in the organization ... but Livingston, 33, will undoubtedly have free-agent suitors if he elects to keep playing
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 10, 2019
On the roster now, the Bulls have four point guards that will all be vying for key minutes in the backcourt rotation. The most likely point guard that could be on his way out this summer is Kris Dunn. With one year left on his rookie deal, Dunn would have to be traded by GarPax to even make it worth considering bringing in another guard.
However, in terms of what the Bulls were looking for at point guard after taking Coby White seventh overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, Livingston was an ideal fit. Re-signing Ryan Arcidiacono and pulling off a sign-and-trade with the Washington Wizards to land Tomas Satoransky seemingly put a stop gap in the need to add another guard.
In theory, Livingston was a good player to target for the Bulls. But he hadn’t even officially hit the free agent market yet when the Bulls drafted White and signed Satoransky and Arcidiacono.
So how could this idea of landing Livingston work in any reality for the Bulls?
The Bulls would definitely have to trade Dunn and potentially one more guard before Livingston could land in the Windy City. Boylen would also want to put White and Satoransky in more of a combo guard role instead of as pure point guards. That could work still if the Bulls are going to run more small ball lineups in general.
In this reality that I’m talking about for the Bulls, it would be the most feasible to land Livingston if GarPax has ideas of trading both Dunn and former first round 2016 draft pick shooting guard Denzel Valentine. If not, Shaun Livingston has other destinations that would make more sense for him and that franchise he signs with.