Stanley Umude walked so Chris Livingston could fly—into 14th place in our annual Ranking The Roster series.
Livingston had an interesting offseason. He was waived in early July and then re-signed two weeks later, to the tune of $2.3m for one year (a fully guaranteed contract, unlike that of Amir Coffey, who will inexplicably finish higher in these rankings). Then, as is now expected, he dominated Summer League, earning an A- grade from our own Finley Kuehl and Jack Trehearne. He put the ball through
the hoop, including scoring from deep at volume. The former professional basketballer among them likely knows enough ball to have credibly deemed his shot as “uggo,” but that evaluation could be chalked up to his pro-Umude partisanship.
The offseason followed a season in which he appeared in exactly the same number of games as his rookie campaign, for a glorious total of 42. His statistics were essentially identical, albeit difficult to interpret as small samples of mostly garbage. In Oshkosh, it was a bit of a different story. He played 11 games to the previous season’s 16, spending more time on the bench in Milwaukee. Those games paint an interesting picture. His three-point shooting percentage and volume regressed significantly, casting some doubt on his Summer League performance and supporting the “uggo” shot evaluation. But he played a bigger role on the squad, upping his assists and boards in the process.
Where does that leave Chris this upcoming season? Three key factors are at play. The first: can his game translate to NBA-level competition? The evidence is murky on this one. He has only looked like NBA talent against non-NBA competition thus far, and his somewhat limited stature may pose problems in the big league. But most folks fare better against worse competition, and another year in the weight room will hopefully bode well for him.
The second: can his game translate to a role on this Milwaukee Bucks squad? Like Ish Smith is a point guard, he is a wing. That’s a start! His increased usage with the Herd does not scream role player, but he does things like Donte, which seems scalable to a smaller role.
The third, perhaps the most troubling of all: will Doc Rivers play him when there are purportedly 13 players above him in the pecking order? Doubtful. Realistically, if Chris Livingston is an NBA player, we won’t find out until he’s on another team. But we can dream.
I have to commit to the bit and hype CL til the cows come home, so make sure you balance my partisanship in the comments below. Most importantly, vote below for who you believe Milwaukee’s 13th-best player is, as we add a few more names. You have until 9 a.m. (Central) tomorrow to cast your votes.
