Steve Kerr recently spoke about how he wishes there was a way for them to bring Pat Spencer into the main Golden State Warriors roster, and there is: By waiving Trayce Jackson-Davis. It’s unfortunate that a player needs to be waived in order to add Spencer to the mix, but he’s been that good, and Jackson-Davis hasn’t been amazing.
"It'd be great to find a way to get him on the roster,” Kerr said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “He's kind of the perfect guy to have as a backup. He can win you games like he almost did tonight, but if he doesn't play he brings the same energy and the same attitude next game. It'd be great if we could find a way but it's a little tricky.”
Based on that comment alone, the move makes a ton of sense.
Warriors could waive Trayce Jackson-Davis to sign Pat Spencer
Spencer has been on the rise for Golden State in recent games slowly but surely becoming a more regular member of Kerr’s rotation on a night-to-night basis.
His recent stretch was highlighted by a monster night in a tough loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, in which he put up 16 points, four rebounds, and four assists while shooting 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep.
The game prior, he dropped 17 points, three rebounds and six assists against the Oklahoma City Thunder shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and 1-of-1 from distance.
After those two master class performances, Spencer got his first career start against the Cleveland Cavaliers, putting up 19 points, three rebounds, and seven assists, all while leading the Warriors to a 99-94 win.
In each of those games, he played over 20 minutes, topped off with a 29-minute stint vs. Cleveland, and now it sounds as though Kerr wants Spencer around more often. But since he’s on a two-way contract, that would mean the Warriors would have to waive one of their 15 guys on standard contracts.
Of that group, Jackson-Davis is the most obvious candidate, as he hasn’t been a real factor in the Warriors’ rotation this year (and wasn’t last year, either).
Jackson-Davis has only appeared in 13 games for the Warriors this year, playing just 11.7 minutes per contest. He is only averaging 4.1 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 51.3% from the floor.
Considering the Warriors have Al Horford and Quinten Post to hold down the center position, as well as the small-ball Draymond Green minutes, waiving Jackson-Davis in order to sign Spencer makes sense.
And based on the way Kerr has spoken about Spencer in recent days, it feels as though this move is imminent. The Warriors want Spencer around, and Jackson-Davis seems like the most likely candidate to be waived because of it.