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The Golden State Warriors are taking advantage of the NBA’s new COVID-19 hardship rules by adding shooting guard Quinndary Weatherspoon on a 10-day contract.
The Golden State Warriors are signing guard Quinndary Weatherspoon to 10-day hardship deal, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Weatherspoon has played for the Warriors‘ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz after spending the past two seasons with the Spurs.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 22, 2021
With Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins both in the health and safety protocols, the Warriors are somewhat shorthanded at the wing positions. Weatherspoon, a 6’3” guard from Mississippi State, was averaging 15.6 points per game for Santa Cruz this season. The San Antonio Spurs drafted Weatherspoon with the 49th pick in 2019, and he played 31 games for Coach Pop over the last two seasons. He averaged 6.4 minutes per game and 1.9 points.
The Warriors acquired Weatherspoon for an eventuality like this, designating him an affiliate player to preserve his rights during the preseason. He fits into what the team looks for in its wings: he’s athletic, he has a big wingspan (6’9”), and he’s basically OK at everything. Weatherspoon was a four-year starter at Mississippi State, where he scored over 2,000 points in his career and was first-team All-SEC in his senior year. He shot 37% from three-point range in his college career, though that hasn’t yet translated at the pro level. He’s also an excellent free throw shooter, can handle the ball a little bit, and he won’t kill you on defense.
This is the model for the Warriors’ reinforcements at Santa Cruz this season: low-ceiling, high-floor guys who can give the older guys some rest. Chris Chiozza, Jeff Dowtin, Weatherspoon - they were all solid-to-good college players who are a little too old to be real prospects. But they don’t take a lot off the table, nor do they particularly need the ball, and that’s what this Warriors team needs.
Quinndary is not related to Clarence Weatherspoon, the only other Weatherspoon in Warriors history. “Baby Barkley” played 31 games for the Warriors after coming over with Jim Jackson in the trade that sent former No. 1 overall pick Joe Smith to Philadelphia in 1998. He and Jackson both left as free agents afterward, because that’s how the Chris Cohan-era Warriors rolled. He also came in second in the 1993 Slam Dunk Contest,
Quinndary Weatherspoon gets a 10-day contract, but don’t be surprised if he hangs around longer. After all, the Warriors have been relatively fortunate regarding the omicron variant so far.
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