According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Milwaukee Bucks will reportedly waive DeAndre Liggins before his contract guarantees on Sunday.
With January 7 marking the deadline for players on non-guaranteed contracts to be waived before their deals become guaranteed, Saturday was a day of big decisions for many teams around the NBA.
That included the Milwaukee Bucks, as veteran wing DeAndre Liggins was signed to a non-guaranteed contract just prior to the start of the regular season.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Bucks have reached a decision on the 29-year-old’s future, and he will be waived prior to the deadline.
The Milwaukee Bucks will waive guard DeAndre Liggins before Sunday's deadline to guarantee deals for season, league sources tell ESPN. Liggins played 31 games, impacted defensively.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 7, 2018
Liggins was brought in after a training camp battle that had left Gerald Green as the apparent last man standing, only for him to then be waived to make for the former two-time D-League Defensive Player of the Year.
Throughout his time at that level, as well as in the NBA, Liggins earned a reputation for being a tenacious defender.
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That element of the former Kentucky Wildcat’s play was certainly evident during his time in Milwaukee. Early in the season, Liggins managed to make a significant impact, with his relentless work ethic placing him among the NBA’s hustle stat leaders in a variety of categories in the early running.
Unfortunately, Liggins’ defense fell off significantly as his stay in Milwaukee progressed, as the effort plays faded away and the team actually started to play worse defensively with him on the floor. This wouldn’t have been so problematic if it wasn’t for Liggins’ brutal offense.
Liggins managed just 57 points in 31 games and a total of 470 minutes with the Bucks. Even more troublesome, he had only managed to score in two of his last 10 games with Milwaukee.
Liggins’ departure leaves the Bucks with a host of options. Short of depth at center, the Bucks can explore the buyout market or look for a trade to acquire a big man who could plug some holes in their rotation. The timing of former Buck Andrew Bogut hitting the market certainly hasn’t been lost on many fans in Milwaukee.
Of course, the Bucks could always choose to replace Liggins with another guard. The recently signed Sean Kilpatrick could see his two-way contract converted to a regular NBA deal, which would also open up a two-way spot that could be used by Milwaukee to retain control over Wisconsin Herd standout Xavier Munford.
And then again, there’s always the possibility that the Bucks will choose to sit on the roster spot for a while and assess their options as the season progresses.
The Bucks will be $5.1M below the luxury tax once DeAndre Liggins is waived on Sunday. Milwaukee will have a $757,427 cap hit on the Liggins waiver and 14 guaranteed contracts. Milwaukee still has a $5M and $3.4M trade exception available.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) January 7, 2018
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Either way, Liggins’ departure creates some flexibility for Milwaukee at a time when they’ll be looking to fortify their roster for the business end of the season.