Kerr wants Lamb on Dubs roster with two-way games used up

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The Warriors' 113-105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena was Anthony Lamb's 50th game played this season, meaning he no longer is eligible to play unless his two-way contract is converted to a guaranteed deal.

That conversion is something the Warriors will have to explore in the coming days, but they bought themselves a little time by signing Lester Quiñones to a 10-day contract to fill their 15th roster spot on March 2.

In his final game of two-way eligibility, Lamb finished with six points and six rebounds in 27 minutes. He was a team-best plus-17 in plus/minus.

After the game, coach Steve Kerr made it clear what he wants to see happen.

"I'd like to have Lamb on the roster," Kerr told reporters in Los Angeles. "He plays an important role for us because he connects a lot of lineups with his ability to space the floor and shoot the three. And then he plays the way we've always played, with Point-Five basketball, make a quick decision, drive it, pass it, shoot it. And then he's big and versatile enough to guard multiple spots.

"So he connects a lot of our lineups. When we play two bigs, we can have him at the three or you can play him at the four. So he's been really helpful for us this year. We'd love to get him on the roster and we'll see what happens."

In 50 games, Lamb is averaging 7.0 points and 3.4 rebounds, but now he must sit until the Warriors decide what to do.

With Quiñones under contract through March 11, the Warriors don't have to make decision on Lamb until March 12 at the earliest, and per the GSWCBA Twitter account, if Golden State were to sign Lamb to a guaranteed contract, they likely wouldn't do it until March 13 in order to save salary.

The Warriors' other two-way player, Ty Jerome, has been active for 45 games, so he has five games remaining. But with Steph Curry's return Sunday, Golden State is able to keep Jerome inactive, saving his eligibility.

With 17 regular-season games remaining, the Warriors likely will keep Jerome inactive unless Curry is unavailable to play because of injury or load management.

As NBC Sports Bay Area's Monte Poole pointed out on "Warriors Live" after Sunday's game, Lamb's presence has been especially important with Andrew Wiggins missing time because of a family matter. Lamb likely wouldn't have reached the 50-game mark if Wiggins had been with Golden State the last few weeks.

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When March 12 rolls around, Kerr might get his wish, with Lamb's contract becoming guaranteed. But until then, they will have to play the next three games (on the road against Oklahoma City and Memphis, and at home against Milwaukee) without the 25-year-old.

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