The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly looking to convert the two-way contract of Nae’Qwan Tomlin to a standard deal, but the team made another move on Tuesday. The Cavs opted to cut Chris Livingston, bringing their current number of two-way contract roster spots down to two, as per Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.com.
As of right now, Tomlin and Luke Travers are the only players the Cavs have on the roster on two-way contracts. If they do end up signing Tomlin to a standard deal, they could add two more players on two-way contracts. The NBA’s deadline to sign players to two-way contracts is March 4.
A native of nearby Akron, Livingston joined the Cavs about a week into the start of the regular season. The No. 58 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, he began his career with the Milwaukee Bucks on a standard rookie contract. After two seasons with the Bucks, the team cut Livingston this past offseason, re-signed him, and then cut him towards the end of training camp.
This year, he appeared in only three games with the Cavs, at a little over five minutes per game. He averaged 3.0 points and 1.0 rebounds, and shot 57.1 percent from the field.
Livingston spent quite a bit of time in the G League with the Cavs’ affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, as part of his two-way contract. He appeared in 16 games, averaging 16.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists with splits of 44.3 percent shooting from the field, 25.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 86.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Livingston played one season of college basketball at Kentucky, before declaring for the NBA Draft.