SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors have taken considerable criticism in recent years for their development of young players. Much of the blame is directed at coach Steve Kerr, who generally is loyal to the veterans who provided the greatness behind to six trips to the NBA Finals and four championships.
Are these assessments fair?
Not if you’ve followed the basketball evolution of Gui Santos – or asked him about it, as I did recently.
“I think the key word for that is patience,” Santos said of his journey that began almost four years ago.
Each Warriors draft pick is given a plan for his development, which includes learning how to effectively play with franchise superstar Stephen Curry. That blueprint is reinforced by the coaching staff. Some young players resist, either unable or unwilling to follow the individual plan, and some digest it and embrace it.
Santos, like Moses Moody before him, accepted it as kind of an NBA internship. They watched as the likes of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson – all four-time NBA champions – and, later, Jimmy Butler III, set examples.
A late second-round pick (55th overall) in the 2022 NBA draft, Santos has become a valuable member of Golden State’s playing rotation. The 6-foot-7, 218 pound forward has started 12 of the last 13 games in one of the forward spots. He has scored in double figures in 13 consecutive starts. He has led the team in scoring three times this season, most recently on Saturday at Oklahoma City, dropping a career-high 22 points and adding 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double this season.
After mostly watching from the bench for three years, he has become too effective to sit. He forced his way into playing time.
Santos was one day beyond his 20th birthday when he arrived in the Bay Area from Brazil. At 6-foot-7, 185 pounds, his physique was begging for bulk. His command of the English language was reasonably good, his vocabulary relatively limited.
The Warriors drafted Santos largely on the advice of player-development coach Leandro Barbosa, a former Golden State guard and fellow Brazilian. Selected 55th overall, it was a low-risk move that has yielded rewards that didn’t surprise Barbosa, one of Santos’ mentors.
“Trust me,” Barbosa told me after the ’22 draft. “He’s young. He’s got a lot to learn about the NBA, but he’s a hard worker and he listens. He has what it takes to play in this league.”
Santos was disappointed by and stayed focused when, two months later, Barbosa was recruited to Sacramento by Mike Brown, the former Golden State assistant who had been hired as head coach of the Kings. Santos spent the entire 2022-23 season in the G League, working with Santa Cruz Warriors coach Seth Cooper and his staff. There were highs and lows, but his zest for the game was undeniable.
After spending the summer of ’23 with Brazil’s national team in the FIBA World Cup, Santos returned to the Bay Area with a fortified physique – he added about 20 pounds – and longing for a chance to play in the NBA.
“That’s my goal,” Santos told me at the Santa Cruz Warriors Fan Fest. “I really, really want to be there.”
Roughly two weeks later, he got his wish. The Warriors had seen enough in training camp to sign Santos to a standard NBA minimum salary. They opted for his youth and enthusiasm over veteran camp invitees Rudy Gay and Rodney McGruder.
As Santos’ development continued, he played only 23 games in 2023-24. He never started and rarely played more than 10 minutes unless the roster was shortened by injuries or it was a rest night for select veterans. In the final game of the regular season, he provided 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal in a win over the Utah Jazz.
By the time Santos arrived for training camp in 2024, he was up to 210 pounds. His desire to play had become an obsession. He went from coach to coach, asking for advice, listening to it and attempting to implement their direction.
“I was a point guard playing back in Brazil, having the ball in my hands,” Santos said. “Then I spent a whole year in the G league just learning how to fit in the system here because my goal always was playing NBA, playing for the Warriors. And when I asked (coaches) what I gotta do, they were like, ‘Alright we’re going to (show) you the way. You gotta play hard and play defense. You gotta to be crashing the boards all the time.
“’And you gotta find Steph.’”
Those five words have applied to anyone on the roster since 2014, when Steve Kerr became head coach. Curry’s movement triggers Golden State’s offense. Learning how to play with him is the shortest bridge to playing time. Green and Thompson understood that. Kevin Durant, one the greatest offensive players ever, once told me he realized it within a couple months after arriving as a free agent in the summer of 2016.
Santos mastered it. He excels at snagging offensive rebounds, which often sends the ball to Curry. This is the first time Santos has displayed his entire set of offensive skills beyond offensive rebounding. In the 13 games since entering the starting lineup on Feb. 3, he is averaging 14.8 points and 4.0 assists, four times recording at least six. He shot 52.5 percent from the field, including 35.5 percent from deep. For good measure, he averaged 6.5 rebounds per game.
The Warriors thought they had a keeper in Jordan Poole, but his career took a downward turn after the viral video of Draymond punching him in the face during a training-camp practice in October 2022. They hoped to mold James Wiseman into their center of the future before the detrimental move of rushing him onto the floor prematurely and him sustaining a series of injuries. They drafted Jonathan Kuminga on the belief that he would be a star sometime around 2026, and despite spectacular moments it was clear he had difficulty accepting the team’s plan for his development.
Which includes those five words: And you gotta find Steph. That’s Draymond’s specialty. It’s high on the list of reasons the Warriors reacquired Gary Payton II from Portland seven months after letting him walk.
Santos, now 23, followed a blueprint that Kuminga – with considerably higher potential – had difficulty accepting. The Warriors hoped JK would use a few years as a role player to launch himself to stardom, but stardom always was on his mind. He might become an All-Star in Atlanta, in which case he’ll be the first Golden State draft pick to reach such heights after leaving the franchise since Gilbert Arenas did so in 2005 with the Washington Wizards.
Santos is the ideal development example. He stayed with the blueprint that fits these Warriors and has become a valuable role player still with room to grow.
“I spent the whole year in the gym just learning how to fit in the system,” he said of his time in the G League, “because my whole power, like my goal, always was playing in NBA. Playing for the Warriors.”
Mission accomplished. Santos nine days ago signed a three-year contract extension, beginning in 2026-27, worth $15 million. CEO Joe Lacob, general manager Mike Dunleavy and Kerr all consider him a keeper.
“It’s a great story,” Kerr said. “But it only happens because of his intestinal for fortitude, his work ethic and commitment.”
With a little help from the staff that, despite taking a few knocks from the public, puts in the work.
Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast