The Warriors filled up their empty two-way spot with a mainstay in Santa Cruz’s rotation.
The Golden State Warriors announced that the team has signed power forward Jackson Rowe to a two-way contract on Tuesday. Rowe has been a staple in the starting lineup for the Santa Cruz Warriors, the Dubs G-League affiliate, for the past two seasons. Golden State has had an open two-way contract spot since they included Reece Beekman to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the Dennis Schröder trade back in December.
Rowe clearly follows a Warriors trend of filling their two-way spots with older prospects, often with plenty of college and pro experience, who they hope to develop into niche role players. The 28-year-old stretch power forward has appeared in 24 games (23 starts) with Santa Cruz this season, averaging 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while making 36.9% of his three-point attempts.
Rowe was a four-year starter at Cal State Fullerton from 2016-2020, recording 12.1 points, 7.3 rebounds on .575/.373/.709 shooting across 111 games. He was also the 2017 Big West Freshman of the year and a four-time All-Conference player (two-time honorable mention and two-time second-team).
The Dubs have had plenty of success with stretch-fours over the years, Otto Porter Jr. as easily the best example. While Rowe is unlikely to receive a significant NBA opportunity barring multiple injuries or a significant shakeup on the roster, he would be far from the first older prospect to receive a surprising amount of playing time from head coach Steve Kerr.