Pat Spencer was one of the greatest college lacrosse players in history. But after his stellar career, he made a bold change in switching to basketball, fighting his way from Northwestern University to the Bundesliga to the G League.

Tuesday, his gamble paid off with an NBA contract.

“People’s Insider” Jake Fischer reported that the Warriors were converting Spencer’s two-way deal to a regular NBA contract, giving him a nice raise and a full roster spot for the final six weeks of the season. It also gives him bragging right over his brother, Cam Spencer, who is still on a two-way deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, something that may be more valuable than money.

With the team losing players in the four-for-one Jimmy Butler trade, the Warriors have had multiple spots on the NBA roster open up, one of which was filled by promoting rookie center Quinten Post from his own two-way deal last month.

Spencer is averaging 2.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 28 appearances with the Dubs this season. He’s essentially been an emergency ball handler for Steve Kerr this season, limited by some rough shooting (2-for-17 from three-point range) but providing solid defense. As with Post and countless players in previous seasons — Damion Lee, Juan Toscano-Anderson, etc. — the Warriors rewarded a player who has spent years in the system, from Vegas Summer League to the Santa Cruz Warriors to the big team.

Late in the season, the team seems to prefer players who are already familiar with the Warriors system, as they did when converting the two-way deal of Lester Quinones last season.

To fill Spencer’s vacant two-way spot, the Warriors added Braxton Key, the nephew of Hall of Famer and one-time Golden State Warriors Ralph Sampson. Key won a national championship with Virginia in the 2019-20 season, as a teammate of another successful Warriors two-way player, Ty Jerome.

A 6-foot-8 forward, Key has played in 34 NBA games for three different teams in three seasons. Last year, he appeared in 20 games with the Denver Nuggets, playing limited minutes but averaging 13.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per 36 minutes, along with 1.2 assists and 0.6 blocks. In 2021-22, he averaged 21.2 minutes in nine games for the Detroit Pistons.

In 2023, Key helped the Delaware Blue Coats win a G League title, putting up 22 points, five rebounds and four assists in the title game. He played alongside Jaden Springer and Warriors Summer League legend Mac McClung.

Promoting Spencer means the Warriors will go up to a full 15 players on their roster, but only temporarily. The 10-day contracts of Kevin Knox and Yuli Collins both expire Friday night, and the Warriors will likely wait to fill those spots thanks to how close they are to the first-apron hard cap.

The longer they stay at 13 players, the more wiggle room and options they have for whatever rest-of-season contract they eventually give out. Don’t be surprised if the team waits until the last week, or even last day of the season before adding a 15th player for the playoffs.

But until then, Pat Spencer is an NBA player, and there’s no two-ways about it.