The Golden State Warriors put their faith in Pat Spencer as Stephen Curry’s replacement at the start of the season, and at times that’s been justified particularly during a coming out party of sorts in early December.
Yet the further the season goes — and during a more extended Curry injury absence — it’s becoming increasingly obvious that Spencer can’t be consistently relied upon for a team still harboring playoff aspirations.
Warriors have a growing Pat Spencer problem
Spencer had a strong 17-point, seven-assist performance against the Memphis Grizzlies before the All-Star break, but his outings in the four games since have been nothing short of incredibly underwhelming.
Despite averaging nearly 25 minutes per game, Spencer has failed to reach double-figure scoring in any of the last four games. He was once again quiet during Tuesday’s disappointing loss to the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center, going for five points, two rebounds and four assists only only 2-of-7 shooting from the floor and 1-of-4 from 3-point range.
Over the last four games, Spencer is now averaging just 5.3 points (lowest on the team), 2.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He’s shooting just 32.1% from the floor and 18.3% from 3-point range, while Golden State are a -24 in his 99 minutes — ranked second-worst on the team.
The problem isn’t just that Spencer is playing poorly, it’s that they don’t really have another option to turn towards. The Warriors deliberately chose not to sign another point guard on the roster, believing that they would have enough ball-handling between Curry, the now-injured Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, and the supplementary playmaking of Brandin Podziemski and De’Anthony Melton.
Golden State clearly aren’t comfortable starting Podziemski at the point, and likely won’t go in that direction now given the young guard is beginning to build some solid form off the bench. The same can be said for Melton who the Warriors likely want to remain at the starting two-guard spot.
The only solution — like to so many of the team’s current problems — is to hope that Curry returns imminently from the ‘runner’s knee’ injury that’s already seen him miss the last eight games.
The Warriors converted Spencer’s two-way contract to a standard deal on the main roster just before the All-Star break, choosing not to follow through on interest in another point guard in former second overall pick Lonzo Ball.
Based on Spencer’s current form, Golden State may be regretting their deicison not to have another point guard option available in the rotation right now.