Isaiah Livers confirmed the expected on Monday — he’ll be testing the NBA waters, if in fact there are waters to test.

Livers called it a “win-win,” since the junior forward can return to Michigan if he doesn’t like what he hears from the pros.

But you don’t have to listen to him long to know what he wants to hear.

“If I have to come back to school, there’s no problem with that,” Livers noted at one point in his teleconference with reporters. “I’d always come back for another year at Michigan.

“If they like what they see and teams are literally saying that they’re going to draft me, then I’m pretty sure that I’m going to stay in the draft. It’s basically whatever evaluation or feedback [I get], however that comes and basically how I make my decision.”

If somebody tabbed him a first-round pick, he’d be gone like a magician’s assistant in a sword-pierced box. The problem is, nobody’s saying he’ll be a first-round pick. Some aren’t projecting him in the second round, either.

But it only takes one, and Livers will be listening with the hopeful ear of all NBA prospects.

U-M fans should wish him best in this case, either way it goes. Livers is one of the most personable young men ever to pull on a Michigan uniform. He’s friendly, engaging, and willing to speak, after the toughest loss or the most discouraging physical setback.

Livers experienced some of both, in a bizarre junior season capped by a walk-off goodbye at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. He’d been hoping for a huge Big Ten Tournament effort, followed by a long run in the NCAAs.

Such a magical March would have made many forget the ups and downs of his season, featuring groin and ankle injuries slowing him through much of the conference campaign.

Instead of March’s big stage, he and his teammates performed for a few minutes of warm-ups, before dozens of media members at Indy’s empty cavern. Then they trudged out of the building, their season over.

A gut-punch for the seniors, the ending served as another groin shot to Livers. He couldn’t prove he’d overcome the injuries. He couldn’t show his skills on the big stage, once again. Walking out the doors in Indy left open the door for speculation.

Are his considerable shooting skills enough in the NBA? At his size (6-7, 230), can he guard bigger players, or stay with the league’s guards? Can he remain healthy?

Then there are the biggest questions of all. Will there be an NBA season in 2020-21? If so, will the process for new NBA hopefuls be trimmed back enough to hurt his chances?

The pre-draft combine is May 21-24 in Chicago, and that could certainly be in jeopardy. The draft itself is slated for June 25.

Nobody knows what the COVID-19 landscape will look like at that point, or how it will affect myriad pursuits. Livers and many others have their hopes, but the three-year Wolverine could, in fact, become a four-year performer in Ann Arbor.

“It’s a beautiful opportunity that the NBA created, testing the waters,” Livers noted. “If they like you, they can draft you. If not, you can go back to college. It’s kind of a win-win for me.”

Livers could do a lot of winning if he spent one more season at Crisler Center and stayed healthy. He’d be the senior captain centerpiece of a ranked, Big Ten contender, a team talked about everywhere when next season’s bluebloods are considered.

Along with other returning veterans like rising senior guard Eli Brooks, rising sophomore wing Franz Wagner and others, Livers would be helping guide the best influx of young talent at Michigan since Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas flowed into Crisler.

He might even help the red-hot rookies experience what he did as a freshman — a sojourn to the final Monday night of the season, at the national championship game.

He didn’t enjoy it enough then, he insists. Maybe he could now.

“The smiles,” he said recently, talking about what he remembers from that marvelous March. “The happiness. The traveling. Mohammad [-Ali Abdur Rahkman], Duncan [Robinson], those guys were here, Moe [Wagner]. That was one of the best times I’ve had. That tournament time was super fun, relaxed. It makes me reminisce just a little bit, especially when it comes to March.

“As a freshman, everything is moving so fast. I wasn’t mature enough to think about how grateful I should be to have that opportunity. What I would give to have the chance to go back to that game, that opportunity. I would do a lot of things to go back to that.”

To have the chance, he’d only have to do one thing.

But it’s not so simple, when The League and potential millions begin to whisper. Livers is listening carefully.

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