Cam Spencer
Spencer is a bench shooter and secondary playmaker for Memphis, and he opened the regular season in a 16 to 17 minute role after losing the preseason race for a starting spot.
Role
The NBA.com game log shows 16 minutes against Utah on Oct 21 and 17 at Golden State on Oct 23, the first two regular-season games. Parlae's page covers the last four preseason games, Oct 5 to Oct 16. It had Jerome, Coward, Wells, Boozer and Edey starting, with Spencer first guard off the bench at 16.3 minutes per game. I did not read a current lineup page that confirms the regular-season starters. The Crafted NBA depth chart projects about 13 minutes for Spencer at shooting guard behind Coward. It projects Jerome at 27 minutes at point guard, with Pippen at 16 to 21 minutes ahead of him. ESPN's depth chart snippet also lists Spencer third at point guard and second at shooting guard, but I did not open it, so I can't date it. Usage rate has not been reported.
The Commercial Appeal's Damichael Cole, relayed by RotoWire on Oct 5, had him in the mix for a starting spot with Morant traded to Portland. CBS noted he shot 44.8 percent from three in 2025-26, averaged 5.6 assists and could be a secondary playmaker. He also has history of getting more minutes when guards ahead of him are hurt, since he started and had double-doubles as a fill-in for Morant last season. Any Jerome, Pippen or Coward absence could push him into a bigger role.
He lost the preseason starting competition and is playing about 16 to 17 minutes a night. The Crafted NBA projection is even lower at 8 to 13 minutes, depending on position. Pippen shared the second unit with him, Jerome and Pippen are ahead of him at point guard, and Coward is ahead at shooting guard. In the regular-season games I could see, he scored 3 and 11 points. Across the last four preseason games, only the Hornets game (11 points) got past 7.
Where analysts split
The open question is whether Spencer's 16 to 17 minute bench role holds or grows. RotoWire and Crafted NBA disagree on the size of the role: RotoWire described him as in the mix to start, while Crafted NBA projects 8 to 13 minutes. The starter-level question is currently answered by usage, since the preseason starting five did not include him. A separate question is how much of the backup point guard work he takes from Pippen.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
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