{"id":589059,"date":"2026-02-07T21:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T21:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/589059\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T21:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T21:12:21","slug":"warriors-sign-two-way-pat-spencer-to-full-nba-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/589059\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors sign two-way Pat Spencer to full NBA contract"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES \u2013 Since joining the Golden State roster three seasons ago, Pat Spencer<\/a> has been often perceived as an oddity more than as a hooper.<\/p>\n

He famously gave up lacrosse<\/a> to pursue basketball, and has become a fan-favorite in garbage time while yo-yoing between the G-League and the Warriors<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spencer, 29, showed up to the preseason media day a full hour before the Warriors sent out their customary press release announcing his signing, an afterthought as a two-way player who was limited to just 50 appearances on the Golden State roster.<\/p>\n

But after the Warriors used every single one of those available games, it was obvious to all that the uber-intense Spencer had more than earned a standard contract with the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And now that the team had two open roster spots following trade deadline deals that sent Jonathan Kuminga, Buddy Hield and Trayce Jackson-Davis out while bringing in just Kristaps Porzingis, the team could now make it happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the Warriors did a few hours before playing the Lakers in Los Angeles on Saturday, inking Spencer to the roster<\/a> for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

The Warriors did something similar last year<\/a>, but Spencer is far more than emergency guard insurance this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a mere formality after he put up 20 points against the Suns on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors\u2019 Pat Spencer #61 brings the ball downcourt as he\u2019s guarded by Miami Heat\u2019s Dru Smith #12 in the second quarter of their NBA game at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if relief is the right word,\u201d Spencer said on Thursday night. \u201cWe\u2019ve got some phone calls to make here, and business is business. We\u2019ll figure it out, but I\u2019m beyond thankful for this organization and what we\u2019ve been able to do together. I\u2019m thankful they\u2019ve given me an opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how has Spencer broken through into being a reliable rotational player for a team with playoff hopes? Coach Steve Kerr pointed to an improved jumper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing for Pat is just to shoot it, shoot the three. Let it rip,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cWhen he shoots that shot, even if he doesn\u2019t make it, it just sets up the offense. We can crash, we can get offensive boards. There\u2019s a flow to the game, so people want to go under screens or don\u2019t pay attention to him? He\u2019s got to let it fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

In limited NBA minutes over his first two seasons, Spencer was allergic to letting it fly from deep. He attempted just 24 4-pointers in 45 games, often passing up open shots for more contested drives to the rim.<\/p>\n

This year, that volume is up to 1.8 attempts per game in just 14.4 minutes a night, and he makes 43.1% of those shots, compared to just 22.7% the year before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, there were always signs that he could be a more prolific shooter at the pro level. In 34 games for the Santa Cruz Warriors<\/a> in 2023-24, he attempted a healthy 4.3 long bombs per game in 27.5 minutes a night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Warriors\u2019 Pat Spencer (61) shoots as Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 Craig Porter Jr., rear, and Thomas Bryant defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Cleveland, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo\/Phil Long)<\/p>\n

With his newfound \u2013 or perhaps, refound \u2013 love of the deep jumper, Spencer has made the most of his extended opportunities this season, especially when Curry has missed games with injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spencer briefly captured the imagination of the larger NBA public in early December, when his teammates dubbed the guard \u201cthat mother(expletive)\u201d after a string of impressive performances while Jimmy Butler and Steph Curry struggled with injuries.<\/p>\n

During a five-game stretch, Spencer averaged 15.2 points and 5.4 assists per appearance, taking advantage of a revamped Warriors offense that saw Kerr scrap much of the motion attack for a high ball screen scheme<\/a> that took advantage of Spencer\u2019s speed as a driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout Steph, for sure, he\u2019s got to be out there,\u201d Kerr said after Spencer almost willed the Warriors to a win against the Sixers in December. \u201cIt would be great to find a way to get him on the roster, because he\u2019d be the perfect guy to have as a backup. He can win you games, like he almost did tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spencer\u2019s minutes have dropped off since then, but he has remained a sparkplug off the bench whenever called upon even as his games played number crept ever closer to the limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But after the trade deadline, Spencer can show off his \u201clet it rip\u201d mentality as a fulltime Warrior.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Since joining the Golden State roster three seasons ago, Pat Spencer has been often perceived…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":589060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,160,479,164,4025,4024,6,162,66,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-589059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-golden-state","11":"tag-golden-state-warriors","12":"tag-goldenstate","13":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-san-francisco","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116031413007899500","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/589060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}