The Golden State Warriors have signed former Alabama forward Braxton Key to a two-way contract.

The NBA team announced the signing on Tuesday after it converted guard Pat Spencer’s two-way contract to a standard contract.

The Warriors signed Key from the San Diego Clippers of the NBA Gatorade League. The 6-foot-8 Key had been with San Diego since being released by the Los Angeles Clippers at the end of the NBA team’s preseason.

With San Diego, Key averaged 14.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.2 blocked shots in 38 games this season.

Two-way contracts allow an NBA team to carry three players beyond the 15 who are on its regular-season roster on standard contracts. The two-way players can move between the NBA team and its NBA G League affiliate without having to pass through waivers and be exposed to the possibility of being claimed by opposing teams.

Golden State’s G League affiliate is the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Two-way players are eligible to play in as many as 50 games in a season with the NBA team. A two-way contract pays $578,577 during the 2024-25 season, which is half of the rookie minimum.

Key’s most recent NBA appearance came on April 14, 2024, with the Denver Nuggets.

In 34 NBA games with three teams across three seasons, Key has averaged 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 7.8 minutes of playing time.

While trying to find a place in the NBA, Key helped the Delaware Blue Coats win the NBA G League championship for the 2022-23 season.

In two seasons at Alabama, Key averaged 9.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 60 games. The Crimson Tide lost to Richmond in the NIT to end Key’s first season in 2017 and to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2018.

In Key’s first season after transferring to Virginia, the Cavaliers defeated Texas Tech 85-77 in overtime to win the NCAA tournament for the 2019 season. Key led Virginia with 10 rebounds in the title game.

Key’s signing came on the same day that a former Alabama teammate returned to the NBA. After signing a two-way contract with Philadelphia in February, Alex Reese made his debut with the 76ers on Tuesday night.

In his second NBA game, Reese made his only shot for the first 3-point basket of his career while playing 4:07 in Philadelphia’s 126-112 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.