The Golden State Warriors must find a way to keep both Damion Lee and Ky Bowman

The Golden State Warriors must do their best to keep both Damion Lee and Ky Bowman, two players both on two-way contracts.

In a season blighted by injury, success has been hard to find this season for the Golden State Warriors. However, it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise as the Dubs have found several diamonds in the rough.

Damion Lee and Ky Bowman have proved themselves to be in that category.

The two-way players have found themselves playing extended minutes due to backcourt injuries suffered by Steph Curry, D’Angelo Russell, Klay Thompson and Jacob Evans, and both have capitalized on the opportunity.

Lee has been one of the more productive wings on the Dubs roster, averaging 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2 assists per game during 14 outings. While Bowman is averaging nearly 9 points per game, shooting 41.5% from deep and 45.4% from the field.

Bowman’s defense has been something of an added perk having guarded players like Ja Morant and Luka Doncic, opponents defended by the former Boston College man have shot nearly 2% worse than their average when facing Bowman.

However, having made his name as a score-first point guard, Bowman will look to improve his facilitating skills while with Santa Cruz.

Through the injury-ravaged season, Golden State have been heavily reliant on their two-way players to an unimaginable extent. The Dubs lead the league with 393 total points supplied by two-way players this season.

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For reference, Miami and Houston are next on the list with 93 points supplied by two-way players. As a result, both Lee and Bowman have averaged more than 20 minutes a game, cementing themselves as core rotation pieces for Kerr.

Following his return from a fractured hand, Lee picked up where he left off and marked the highlight reel Lee scored 21 points on 7-11 shooting from the field and 60% from deep in the Warriors’ close loss in Utah before a 20 point 7 rebound display against New Orleans and a 14 point 7 rebound outing against the Timberwolves.

Both Lee and Bowman appear to have convinced head coach Steve Kerr that they have a future in the Bay area, Kerr himself has expressed a desire to keep the young duo.

"“We feel strongly about both guys,” Kerr said. “We’d like to keep both guys, but who knows? There’s a lot that can happen. We’re just taking it a day at a time.” Kerr said when speaking to the Mercury News."

Although Lee has 28 days left with the Warriors, Bowman has a mere 12 and will need to be stashed in the G-League, Kerr understandably wants to preserve the former Boston College Eagle in case of injury.

"“Yeah, Ky’s been fantastic. He did everything we asked. He plays with confidence. He plays with force. Great teammate. Ky, to me, has proven that he belongs in the NBA.“We only have 13 days left with him. Why use those 13 days when all of our guards are healthy when there’s a chance that a month, two months from now, two guys get injured, and we don’t have a point guard? We’d feel stupid for using up Ky’s days.” Kerr told San Francisco Chronicle’s Connor Letourneau."

The Warriors need to not repeat history and make the same mistake that they committed with Kendrick Nunn. Find a way to do it: keep Lee and Bowman.