The Golden State Warriors are 2-0 on the young season after impressive victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets. However, one bench player’s disappearing act has been impossible to ignore.
Pat Spencer earned himself a reputation last year as a fiery bench player who was not afraid to come into games and get dirty. He got ejected in the playoffs last year for head-butting Houston Rockets player Alperen Şengün which, honestly, might have been coming for a while given Sengun's own behaviour in that series.
Pat Spencer has found himself outside the Warriors rotation to start the season
Spencer did not do a ton for the Warriors last season, but he appeared in 39 games and averaged roughly six and a half minutes per game while shooting 40.6% on the year and averaging 2.5 points per game.
He is not a massive contributor by any stretch, yet the fact that he has been iced out so far this season and has not played a single minute doesn't bode well for his playing time going forward.
Really, it seems that he has clearly been eclipsed on the depth chart by rookie Will Richard. The rookie out of the University of Florida had a really strong preseason and has looked solid in his first two games of the regular season even if the numbers don't wholly show it yet. Richard even earned himself the game ball for his efforts in the regular season opener against Los Angeles, having scored his first NBA bucket.
Richard came into the NBA with a lot of experience in college which has clearly seemed to translate early on. Head coach Steve Kerr likened him to San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy because they both came into their respective leagues ready to play thanks to their extensive college experience.
Spencer is not the only Warrior player fans have grown accustomed to that has been left out in the cold to start the season. Third-year big Trayce Jackson-Davis has also not played at all which brings his future on the team into question.
Jackson-Davis averaged over 15 minutes per game in each of his first two years, but by the end of last season it was clear that he was losing favor with head coach Steve Kerr and that's continued to start this campaign.
Maybe Spencer and Jackson-Davis will see more playing time on Friday night as the Warriors take on the Portland Trail Blazers in their first back-to-back of the season. Kerr seems likely to rest some of his star players more after a thrilling overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, so he may utilize more of his bench as a result.