JANUARY 7, 10:46am: Milwaukee has officially requested waivers on Liggins, the team announced on its website.
JANUARY 6, 8:30pm: The Bucks plan to waive guard DeAndre Liggins before Sunday’s deadline to guarantee his salary for the season, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Liggins played 31 games for Milwaukee and had his greatest impact on defense, Wojnarowski notes. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per night.
The move not only opens a roster spot, it will put the Bucks $5.1MM below the luxury tax, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link). Liggins’ contract will carry a $757,427 cap hit once the waiver becomes official. Milwaukee also has trade exceptions valued at $5MM and $3.4MM.
The Bucks acquired Liggins in October when they claimed him off waivers from the Heat. Since last April, the 29-year-old has spent time with the Cavaliers, Mavericks, Rockets, Clippers, Hawks, Heat and Bucks.
A two-time G League Defensive Player of the Year, Liggins had his best NBA season last year in Cleveland, averaging 2.4 points in 61 games.
It’s genuinely difficult to average less than 2 points per game in 15 minutes