Warriors’ potential two-way candidates: Kyle Guy, Selom Mawugbe and Ryan Taylor
LAS VEGAS — Games of chance are easy to find in Las Vegas. But, for NBA-hopefuls participating in Summer League, a chance is what they play for.
At this point, the Warriors’ offseason is mostly over and the 15 roster spots are spoken for. Their four-game Summer League slate, which begins Monday at 5 p.m. against the Orlando Magic, will help the team’s decision-makers determine how to fill a pair of two-way roster spots.
While most of the attention will be paid to Golden State’s pair of lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, the two-way spots should not be slept on. After all, contributors such as Damion Lee and Juan Toscano-Anderson once played on these deals and split their time between the G League affiliate in Santa Cruz and the NBA club. Here are three players worth circling as candidates to earn a two-way contract.
Selom Mawugbe, center: Mawugbe, 23, was working at a Lowe’s in Santa Clarita when he got a call from his agent saying the Warriors wanted to talk.
The G League draft was only days away and Mawugbe, since graduating from Azusa Pacific, took a job as a sales associate to make some extra scratch during the pandemic.
“I figured since I’m at home I might as well work and make a little side money instead of mooching off my parents,” Mawugbe said. “I ended up staying longer than I intended because of the pandemic.”
He’d been working there for nine months when the Warriors drafted him for the Santa Cruz affiliate. So Mawugbe quit his job and got ready to play a condensed G League season in the Orlando bubble. His manager was upset to see him leave, but Mawugbe never considered making Lowe’s a longterm gig.
“Although customer service is something that I’m good at it, I absolutely can’t stand it,” Mawugbe said. “After hours and hours, it’ll eat at you.”
In the bubble, he averaged 5.3 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 83%. The Warriors were impressed with how he bought into his role as a screen-setter and finisher and invited him back to start at center in Summer League. At 6-foot-10, 230 pounds, Mawugbe is being considered for a two-way contract and could be a valuable reserve big man who can be used in a crunch.
He still needs to get stronger, and coaches are working with him to improve his free-throw shooting (60% last season), rebounding and quickness getting out of screens. But the Warriors are bullish on his future and believe in a few years he could be a regular on an NBA roster. Mawugbe’s days of working customer service appear to be behind him.
Has he been back in a Lowe’s since he quit?
“I have not,” he said.
Kyle Guy, guard: Every morning after Guy awakes, he taps the Calm app on his phone and lets his mind go blank for a few minutes.
The 23-year-old guard has had a hard time sticking in the NBA since a decorated career at Virginia, and he’s learned to lean on meditation in order to keep a level head.
“When I was struggling with not playing and I was getting really frustrated with the coaches, the front office, myself, all of that,” Guy said, “that’s when I started to look inward and realize it’s out of my control.”
Drafted 55th overall by the Kings in 2019, Guy hardly played during his two seasons in Sacramento. He spent most of his rookie season in the G League, then played just 31 games while on a two-way contract last season. The 2019 NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Guy has attempted just 93 shots in two years in the NBA after taking more than 1,000 in three years at Virginia.
Now Guy — who can pass for a Jack Harlow lookalike since growing his hair out and adding tattoos — is hoping an impressive showing in Summer League can lead to a new opportunity.
“I think Kyle is an NBA player and I think he’ll figure out a way to get there and stick. The big thing for him is finding that defined role,” Summer League coach Kris Weems said. “I feel like he’s right on the cusp of sticking with somebody.”
While Guy hopes to avoid signing another two-way, he realizes that is largely out of his control. He just wants a chance to show he can shoot, make plays for others and hold his own on defense. Through his mindfulness practice, he feels more confident now on the fringe of the NBA than he did when he was the big man on Virginia’s campus.
“I know what I’m worth, and I think I’m an NBA player,” Guy said. “I don’t want to limit my opportunities by saying, ‘Yes, I want the two-way.’ I just want to help in any way and, however that comes about, I’m cool with.”
Ryan Taylor, guard: Taylor walked into Golden State’s offseason minicamp in September motivated to turn a promising first season in the G League into a spot on the NBA club’s roster.
On the court with several of the Warriors’ rotation players, Taylor scored a team-high 15 points on five 3-pointers in a scrimmage.
“Ryan really caught fire today,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters then. “It was fun to see.”
But despite his impressive showing, Taylor failed to land one of the two-way contracts that went to Nico Mannion and Toscano-Anderson.
Now Taylor, 26, is a veteran on Golden State’s Summer League roster. Another impressive showing after two seasons in Santa Cruz could be enough, this time, to land a two-way contract. Since joining Golden State’s G League affiliate in 2019, Taylor has averaged 9.0 points on 44.4% shooting and 43.1% overall and 2.2 rebounds in 36 games. At 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, he has the tools to play a 3-and-D role.
Of course, the Warriors are not limited to signing a player from their Summer League team, which also includes Eli Pemberton, Jaquori McLaughlin and Cameron Oliver. Others playing for opponents will also impress, and Golden State could conceivably sign any qualifying free agent. But the organization brought these players in for a reason, and they have the inside track.