The Bucks waived Chris Livingston less than a week out from the season-opener

If Chris Livingston changed his last name to Antetokounmpo, he might still have a job right now.

The Milwaukee Bucks waived Livingston on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, less than a full week out from the franchise’s 2025-26 season-opener. This move comes exactly two months after the Bucks signed Livingston to a $2.3 million guaranteed contract for the upcoming season, meaning Milwaukee will have to eat that dead money unless another team signs him.

As NBA teams begin to finalize their rosters ahead of the start of the regular season next week, Livingston was an unfortunate casualty. That’s despite his impressive Summer League stretch with the Bucks, where he averaged 20 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game on 50 percent overall shooting and 37.5 percent shooting from deep.

To boot, Livingston turned 22 years old just a day earlier — the NBA is a relentless league.

The Milwaukee Bucks are waiving forward Chris Livingston, sources tell ESPN. Livingston, the last pick in the 2023 NBA draft, signed a guaranteed deal in the offseason with the Bucks, who are in midst of a crunch for their final 15-man roster. pic.twitter.com/ivQtUEekgD

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 16, 2025

Waiving Livingston puts the Bucks at 14 guaranteed roster spots, leaving them one hole to fill. Reports indicate that spot will likely go to someone such as Andre Jackson Jr. or Amir Coffey. But here’s the thing: it probably deserves to go to Livingston.

Milwaukee is, understandably, doing everything possible to keep its superstar, two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, as happy as possible. The front office brought back Giannis’ brother Thanasis (a career 2.7 PPG player) and recently signed his other brother, Alex (who has never played an NBA minute), to a two-way deal. Alex’s two-way deal doesn’t actually count toward the 15 roster spots, but to say he’s deserving of it would be a stretch. Those guys will help keep Giannis content, though, and that brings more value than what Livingston has shown on the floor as a pro thus far.

As a result, Livingston is back on the open market with the league’s opening day set for next Tuesday. Was he going to be the one to make or break the Bucks this season? That answer is highly likely a no. But Milwaukee is also literally throwing away a ton of money. Livingston’s $2.3 million is a relatively small chunk of change, but this front office is also eating over $22 million in dead money this season (and every season over the next four) due to the waiving and stretching of Damian Lillard’s massive contract.

Simply put, it’s been a strange two-plus years for Livingston in Milwaukee. After his one-and-done season at Kentucky, the Bucks drafted him with the last pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He appeared in 42 total games over the next two seasons before being waived back in July. The front office re-signed him to the aforementioned guaranteed deal two weeks later. He saw action in a couple of preseason games, in which he performed well. He even went through the Media Day photoshoot!

But Livingston just hasn’t been able to prove himself as a rotational regular-season NBA piece to this point. And now, he’ll look to find a new home, likely on a two-way deal.

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