2 Warriors Get Contract Guarantees for Rest of 2025-26 Season

Gui Santos and Trayce Jackson-Davis had their contracts guaranteed for the rest of the 2025-26 season on Saturday.

The Warriors could have waived either and saved a portion of the $2.2 million they were sign for. Now if they were cut to either, they would be on the hook for the full $2.2 million.

Keeping Santos was a no-brainer. The third-year forward has the fifth-best net rating on the team, per Cleaning the Glass, and he's been particularly effective recently.

Over the last 13 games, he's second on the team in plus/minus with a plus-71 rating.

Jackson-Davis is exactly the kind of end-of-rotation piece any team would want. He doesn't get consistent playing time, but he's ready to play when called. He's up to 297 minutes this season, as he's provided depth at center behind Al Horford, who has missed 19 games, and Quinten Post.

What These Guarantees Mean for Spencer's Contract

When Pat Spencer was in the midst of his career-best four-game stretch in December, Steve Kerr said he wanted to convert his two-way contract to a standard contract.

But the problem was the Warriors had 15 players on standard contracts, which is the max a team can have.

On a two-way contract, Spencer can be active for only 50 games. He's already been active for 38. If they don't convert his contract, he'll be ineligible to play after he hits the 50-game threshold.

So at the time, I was among the Warriors writers who speculated that they could waive Jackson-Davis. They'd save just enough money waiving him to eventually give Spencer a minimum contract.

Since that four-game stretch, Spencer hasn't played much. The Warriors have way more guard options than center options, so it was probably the correct decision to keep TJD.

Now that Santos and TJD have their contracts fully guaranteed for the rest of the season, the only way the Warriors can make room for a Spencer contract is making a trade in which they take back fewer players than they send out.

For example, if Golden State traded Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and Buddy Hield (and picks) for Michael Porter Jr., they'd create two open roster spots, which would allow them to sign Spencer.

Santos' Future

As GSWCBA wrote on X, Santos is extension-eligible until Jun. 30.

The Warriors have his full Bird rights, which means they can offer him "140 percent of the estimated average salary (roughly around $18M) in his first year."

Santos won't have a market for an $18 million starting salary, but he should have a market to make more than $2.2 million.

The 23-year-old played 29 minutes per game in the 2024 Paris Games for Brazil, averaging 7.3 points on 40 percent three-point shooting. He's never had that kind of minute load with the Warriors, but it's clear from his Olympic experience and his recent play with Golden State that he's capable of more.