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The Golden State Warriors are starting the second half of the season with a little bit of good news: The NBA’s Board of Governors has voted to pass the recently proposed rules to two-way contracts.
NBA Board of Governors approved changes to two-way contracts that will allow, among other modifications, for those players to be added onto postseason rosters, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2021
There are two key parts of the two-way contract rule change. The first is that players on two-way contracts will now be allowed to join a team’s postseason roster. The second is that players on two-way contracts will no longer be capped at 50 games.
In other words, players on two-way contracts will now be treated like any other player, just with non-guaranteed contracts, and with pay reflective of how many days are spent on the roster.
This is huge for the Warriors, who have been reliant on two-way contract Juan Toscano-Anderson this season. Toscano-Anderson has only appeared in 23 of the team’s 37 games — in part because the Warriors have been monitoring his playing time to stay under the limit — but he’s started 13 times, and is averaging 20.6 minutes per night in the games he’s played in. He’s played strong defense, provided stellar intangibles, and been the team’s go-to option when they have an injury in the frontcourt.
It’s also good news for rookie point guard Nico Mannion, who is the other Warrior on a two-way contract. Should Mannion work his way into the rotation in the second half of the season, he’ll be able to play in the playoffs.
In all likelihood, the two-way contract rules will return to what they used to be next year. But for this year, it’s a win for the Warriors, who rely on their two-way contracts more than most teams, and will likely be in the playoffs.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mychal Mulder was the other Warrior on a two-way contract.