Suns officially agree to 2-way contract with former Warriors guard Pat Spencer
The 29-year-old, 6-foot-2 guard spent the last three seasons adopting a progressively larger role on the Warriors before signing with the Suns.
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The Phoenix Suns have officially agreed to a two-way contract with free agent guard Pat Spencer, the team announced Saturday.
ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported the news on Thursday.
Spencer, whose younger brother, Cam, also plays in the NBA, spent the last three seasons as a role player for the Golden State Warriors. He progressively saw more action (six to 39 to 66 games played) and even logged his first 14 career starts in the league last year.
The 29-year-old (who turns 30 on Saturday) averaged 7.2 points, 3.5 assists and 2.4 rebounds for Golden State in the 2025-26 campaign. As a starter, the 6-foot-2 player averaged 11.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists while shooting 40% from 3.
He also has eight playoff games under his belt, as the Warriors made the Western Conference Semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves two seasons ago.
The intradivisional move sees Spencer take up one of three two-way spots on Phoenix’s roster, as the NBA Summer League (July 3-19) could help determine those other two.
Players under a two-way contract can play a maximum of 50 regular-season games with the NBA squad and must have accrued three or fewer seasons of league service. They are therefore ineligible for the postseason.
Koby Brea, the No. 41 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Jamaree Bouyea and Isaiah Livers were Phoenix’s three two-way players last year. The season closed with Brea, Livers and C.J. Huntley in that contract grouping after Bouyea’s agreement was converted to a standard NBA contract in March.
Phoenix so far this offseason has drafted Arizona Wildcats forward Koa Peat with the No. 30 pick, re-signed Collin Gillespie, Jordan Goodwin and Mark Williams, traded for Miles Bridges and signed free-agent sharpshooter Luke Kennard.
The team also picked up an option on Bouyea, which will be worth up to $2.6 million.
Spencer is a client of Mark Bartelstein, the father of Suns CEO Josh Bartelstein.
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Comments
10 Comments
I’m curious how much free rein Gregory has, or is Ishbia holding his leash? It is a rhetorical question because we all know the answer.
A good GM knows you can’t lock up the majority of your cap space with 2 “franchise players,” let alone one. A good GM most importantly also knows when to cut bait on a superstar, i.e., RIGHT BEFORE he starts losing his “star.” Stevens realized this a bit late in BOS and waited until Brown started complaining. Same with MIL and Antetokounmpo. Same will happen with Ishbia and Booker who is barely a star. The problem is that even though Booker is (has been) losing his star, Ishbia is still too nearsighted — and even more stubborn than those other teams — to cut bait. I liked Ishbia a lot for what he did when he first bought the Suns, but I have realized that, like every other Suns’ coach, Ishbia, the owner, is nothing more than a “Pom Pom Booker Boy.”.
After that a**h*** D Green went public about Ishbia discussing a Durant trade w GSW, the backlash by Durant shook Ishbia, making Ishbia double down on keeping Booker “forever“ so that Ishbia could drop the newfound label he received as someone who goes back on his word. That soured a lot of players and the NBA as a whole as well because we also all know that the league is nothing more than a glorified soap opera.
This all means that Booker will continue garnering massive cap hits against the team while the Suns toil in mediocrity and sign fringe players (Spencer, Kennard) while using a smart man’s foresight (Gregory) to try to outsmart and squeeze every drop out of the system to be able to sign, trade, and barter their way to eventually (hopeful) earning a #6 seed (possibly a #5 seed). And all this time, the elephant in the room will remain keeping a way overrated Booker on the payroll without the necessary flexibility to build-out the team to a next substantial level.
The one saving grace here, besides Gregory’s short term intelligence (and if you think the Suns move to trade for Bridges was a final move, you are a shortsighted / myopic reader) is the recent draft picks made by Gregory (Fleming, Maluach, Peat, even Brea) that point to his long term vision / intelligence. The Suns are trying to have their cake (Booker) while satisfying the whims of Pom Pom Booker Boy and to also eat it (i.e., succeed via their youth in the next 2-4 years).
And to anyone who rues trading away Allen and O’Neale, wake up. With Allen and O’Neale, the team would again be hovering around a #8 / #7 seed. The trade for Bridges at least provides an opportunity to do more; and if you think that giving up the 2033 unconditional FRP was an end-all-be-all between now (2026) and then (2033), again, wake up. A LOT of wheeling and dealing will happen between now and then (who knows if the Suns even get that FRP back one day).
I trust Gregory’s and Ott’s foresight to hopefully overcome Ishbia’s nearsightedness on keeping one of the most overrated players in rhe NBA, Bookie.
This is just one Bartelstein given money to another Bartelstein. And using the organization and money to do it.
Suns keep amassing talent where few saw any hope. This team will beat the spurs and knicks.