Warriors must find a way to keep Ky Bowman on the roster
By Justin Fried
The Golden State Warriors must find a way to keep rookie Ky Bowman on the roster by converting his two-way contract to a guaranteed deal.
The Golden State Warriors haven’t had much to smile about this season. But undrafted rookie point guard Ky Bowman has managed to emerge from the darkness and be a lone shining ray of light.
Not much was expected of Bowman entering the season. After all, the Warriors had an abundance of guards at their disposal and didn’t expect Bowman to see more than a handful of games at the NBA level.
That was especially true if the team was going to make a postseason run. But boy do things have a funny way of changing.
Injuries upon injuries mounted for the Warriors and soon Bowman found himself thrust into a starting role with each of Stephen Curry, D’Angelo Russell, and Jacob Evans all sidelined.
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And for a two-way player who wasn’t expected to make much of an impact in his rookie season, this was uncharted territory for the inexperienced 22-year-old. But Bowman has managed to exceed any and all expectations this season and his play has been one of the few things to remain optimistic about.
This Warriors squad is perhaps the worst in the NBA and many players on the team don’t have much of a future on the team. But Bowman looks to be playing himself into a future bench role with the Warriors and very well could be the backup point guard going forward.
And it will be imperative that the Warriors see as much of their young players — like Bowman — down the stretch in order to figure out exactly what they have going forward. Unfortunately, that might sound easier than it really is.
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While the Warriors will have no problem giving young players like Eric Paschall or even Jordan Poole — struggles and all — playing time, Bowman presents the team with an interesting challenge.
Because of his two-way status, Bowman is only allotted 45 days on the active roster before he’s required to be sent down to the G-League. And given how well he’s been playing, it’s pretty difficult to justify letting him play half of the season in Santa Cruz.
Bowman is fresh off a career-high 24 points in the team’s 100-97 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. In 18 games this season, Bowman is averaging 9.1 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.2 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game.
But if the Warriors want to keep him around, they’re going to have to do some roster manipulation.
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Since the team is still hard-capped, they aren’t able to just convert his two-way deal to a guaranteed contract despite their open roster spot. That means to add him, they’re going to have to make room.
The most obvious choice would be to waive Marquese Chriss before his contract becomes guaranteed on January 10th. Coincidentally, this would likely be right in line with when Bowman’s eligibility will expire.
Chriss has been playing well as of late but could become expendable once the Warriors return their injured big men.
Another option would be to trade a player on a minimum contract once the December 15th deadline passes. The most likely candidate for such a move would be veteran Alec Burks who is putting together a career year and could be a valuable piece for a contender.
The best part about that option is that it would land the Warriors an asset in return.
Either way, the Warriors need to do what they can to make sure Ky Bowman is on the roster past January and for the foreseeable future. Don’t waste his season in Santa Cruz, give him valuable NBA experience down the stretch.
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And give Warriors fans a reason to tune in on gamedays.