Warriors officially convert Spencer to full contract! Another spot targeted at Ball: will compete with Nuggets and others

On February 8th Beijing time, the Warriors officially announced that Pat Spencer's two-way contract has been upgraded to a full NBA contract, with the term lasting through this season as reported by Shams. This 1.88-meter point guard is now eligible to participate in the remaining regular-season games and also the playoffs, which was not possible under his prior two-way deal. Additionally, the Warriors are interested in signing Lonzo Ball, who was recently waived by the Jazz.

After the trade deadline, the Warriors had two open standard roster spots. Following the conversion of Spencer’s contract, the team now has one standard spot and one two-way contract slot remaining.

Spencer was a lacrosse star at Loyola University Maryland and only began playing college basketball at Northwestern University as a 23-year-old graduate student. This season marks his third year with the Warriors and his best performance to date: he has played in 36 games, averaging 14.4 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game, with a shooting percentage of 42.3%, three-point accuracy of 43.1%, and free throw rate of 83.3%.

In the away game victory over the Suns, he scored a career-high 20 points and hit a personal best of 6 three-pointers. This was also Spencer’s 50th activated game this season, reaching the maximum limit for two-way players.

At 29 years old, Spencer’s role is limited when Curry is healthy during the 2025/26 season. However, when this superstar is absent, his playing time significantly increases: in 13 games, he averages 25.3 minutes, contributing 11.0 points, 5.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steal per game.

Furthermore, the Warriors are interested in signing Lonzo Ball. Insider Stein reported that Ball is expected to join a Western Conference team. Insider Siegel confirmed the Warriors’ interest and noted that the Nuggets are also strong contenders for the 28-year-old guard. Haynes reported that several teams have requested to review Ball’s medical records to decide whether to sign the newly available free agent.

Selected as the second overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ball’s career has been plagued by injuries, the most serious being a left knee injury that required three surgeries and caused him to miss two and a half seasons. This season’s first half saw him play for the Cavaliers, who traded him along with two second-round picks to the Jazz before the trade deadline as part of a salary-clearing move. After the trade, the Jazz waived Ball, and once his waiver period ends, he will become an unrestricted free agent.

Ball joined the Cavaliers last summer and struggled immensely with shooting this season: in 35 games, he averaged 20.8 minutes and posted career lows of 4.6 points per game, with shooting percentages of 30.1% from the field, 27.2% from three, and 66.7% from the free-throw line—all career worsts. He also averaged 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

These shooting percentages can be somewhat misleading—Ball took nearly 84% of his shots from beyond the arc, but his 27.2% three-point shooting remains poor and well below his career average of 35.5%.