Warriors sign Quinndary Weatherspoon to a two-way contract

Quinndary Weatherspoon has only played one game for the Golden State Warriors, but it was impressive enough for the club to give him a two-way contract this week.

Weatherspoon was averaging 16.1 points per game with the Santa Cruz Warriors, and got a call-up after Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins entered the health and safety protocols. He played 14 minutes for the shorthanded Warriors on Christmas Day against Phoenix, arguably showing more than the team’s other two-way guys, Chris Chiozza and Jeff Dowtin, had all season. He made all three of his shots, and guarded Chris Paul and Devin Booker. As a result, Dowtin has been waived and Weatherspoon took his spot.

One reason the Warriors signed Weatherspoon was Klay Thompson, who Quinndary guarded during scrimmages in Santa Cruz. Klay recommended him, the coaches liked what they saw, and with his ten-day hardship period expiring and the team getting back to full strength, the Warriors made a move. Weatherspoon is now eligible to be on the active roster for most if not all of the team’s remaining games, and gets a pay bump of up to $462,000.

Dowtin, a 6’3” guard out of Rhode Island, never made an impact in his four games with the club. He averaged 1.5 points in seven minutes per game, but was clearly behind Chiozza on the point guard depth chart. With the emergence of Gary Payton II and Andre Iguodala’s role ass de facto backup point, there simply wasn’t a spot for Dowtin’s Steph Curry-lite game. Also, he didn’t make a single three-pointer Last year, he spent the season with the G League champion Lakeland Magic, Orlando’s affiliate, and now he becomes a free agent.

The signing serves as both a vote of confidence and a warning for Chiozza. Confidence, because Chiozza retained his two-way deal, and warning, because it showed the Warriors aren’t afraid to make chances at the edges of the roster. He’s likely to stick around, despite occasionally frustrating Warriors fans, but it does appear that the front office won’t hesitate if they think there’s an upgrade available.

Weatherspoon spent the first two years of his career with the San Antonio Spurs after being selected 49th in the 2019 Draft out of Mississippi State. He played 31 games in two years, playing on a two-way contract. His six points on Christmas Day tied a career high.