Gui Santos has been given more ball-handling responsibility for the Warriors of late and it has sparked a new excitement in him, Nick Avila writes for NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Yeah, I’m loving it — not that I don’t like the other part,” Santos said. “I love to just be on the NBA floor, but when you’re on the NBA floor and you’ve got a little bit more freedom to find teammates and either go to the basket and do all that, that gives you so much more joy to play. So, I really love it, the momentum.”
The newly extended forward has increased his assist numbers to 4.6 per game over his last five, and his playing style has been infectious among his teammates. However, he knows that his role will change again once Stephen Curry returns.
After receiving his three-year extension, Santos hopes to be an inspiration for other Brazilian players looking to make it in the NBA, Dalton Johnson writes for NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I’m the only one here, so I’m the biggest example when you look at basketball and the NBA being the biggest level you can get to. Everybody is looking at me as an example,” Santos said. “For me, it’s just trying to be a great guy and show that the work ethic is the most important thing. That’s what got me here in this position.”
Head coach Steve Kerr praised Santos following the announcement of the deal.
“He’s been such an important player for us, but also just an incredible development story. Second-round pick and spent his entire first year in Santa Cruz,” Kerr said. “He’s become one of our most important players. We’re all so thrilled for him. He’s excited, it’s a great day.”
Curry reiterated that sentiment, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’ Eden Collier.
“He was so happy to just be on an NBA team at one point,” Curry said. “And now to being a big part of our rotation, really developing and becoming an impactful player on both ends of the floor and being rewarded with that type of security — coming where he came from, it’s a big deal, it’s a big celebration today for him.”
We have more from the Warriors:
- Reacting to the news that Curry will miss at least the next five games with his lingering knee injury, Johnson suggests for NBC Sports Bay Area that it might make sense to shut the star point guard down until the play-in tournament. Given the 4.5-game gap between the Warriors and No. 6 Lakers and the 7.5-game gap that separates Golden State from the No. 11 Grizzlies, caution should be the name of the game when it comes to bringing Curry back, Johnson argues. “It’s just something that you don’t want to have lingering because it can get worse,” Curry said when asked about the injury.
- When Al Horford left the Celtics for the Warriors this offseason, the sense was that he was leaving a team in a gap year for a potential contender. So far, the opposite has been true in terms of the two teams’ relative success levels, and Horford’s integration with the team has required a bit of a learning curve, Gary Washburn writes for the Boston Globe. “I think that the difference is in different places you look for different things,” Horford said. “So in Boston, we ran a lot of pick-and-rolls, and then some isolations, and then we got to moving the ball. And here with the Warriors, we try to get the ball to Draymond (Green), or get the ball in the post, and then play more in the perimeter, play splits and cut to the basket and things like that. And then when Steph is on the court, obviously all that ties in together. So there’s some pick and roll, but then there’s a lot of off-the-ball movement.”
- Kerr is realistic about the Warriors’ chances of earning a top-six spot in the West to avoid the play-in tournament, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Joaquin Ruiz writes. “It’s a lot to make up with 22 games left,” Kerr said. “We don’t even talk about it. It’s not anything that is worth discussing because we just have to try to go out and win and see what happens.“
Curry injury was worse than what GSW told everyone is why they didn’t make a big trade at trade deadline. Sounds liek nobody knows what is wrong with KP. Last night’s game showed why Kerr is not a guy that can win without Curry. They fell into the same old offense of just shooting 3s. kerr needs to stop playing 3 ball only and have the team drive to the basket. Its hard to watch a team lose in teh first quarter because of bad coaching.
Its too many of Kerr’s no-defense rotations. Podz/Melton/Gui/Moody/Dray is way too small, the opps will just get unlimited points at the rim. Dray should never play center again, he openly has stated this. Moody should never play PF again, because he is the best SG on the team. Why do we even need to say it? Why does Kerr obsess over playing players out of position? We win when he plays everyone in the original positions, and lose when he plays 4 SGs at once.
Just start Melton Moody Gui Dray Al and win way more and DNP Podz and GP2 more. Let Leons and Williams have minutes instead of Podz and GP2.
GP2 has been having a good year just don’t let no defense Spencer on the floor he was teh reason the defense is so bad. I do like that starting lineup. Play Post more too.
Leons been solid the last 2 games, I want to see more of him. We need his size.
frustrating that Kerr doesn’t play him more. Especially facing bigger teams.
> Just start Melton Moody Gui Dray Al
100% that’s the right starting lineup.
Curry has a normal runners knee problem. It lingers. It’ll take the off-season to get it right.
Exactly he has also not been shutting it down. He should never went to allstar weekend but he had his movie to promote.
@arc how about a variation on this:
Curry is in his late 30’s, which is when all players are more susceptible to this kind of injury.
In other words, GSW isn’t thinking Curry is going to be any more available next season or the season after.
He can get his knee back into shape but he will need 6 months off to fully heal runner’s knee. With his age you wonder how much time he has left on the court.
He’ll be back next season but that may be it.
Steph know W’s will be tanking next season.
Yall are massively overrating this. Curry isn’t cooked at all. I have had runners knee and it took a month to be back to normal.
Steph is human like everybody else. When you get close to 40 the injuries are more frequent and recovery takes longer.
Some big decisions coming this summer. Kerr is most likely leaving and this team isn’t trading away draft picks. High probability Steph announces next season will be his last.
1. Kerr will be gone at end of year, inshallah
2. Whoever takes over will make Steph move back to on-ball PG so he doesn’t have to run marathons every game
3. Curry will keep playing, he is too good to retire plus there’s too much off-court stuff that will keep him out there as long as possible
4. GSW might trade those picks this offseason, getting a second younger superstar to pair with Steph becomes priority
5. What then becomes of Jimmy?
6. You guys need to understand GSW will keep spending to contend and their first taste of rebuilding with “two timelines” has likely scared them off from that (aside from the upcoming draft)
7. You guys need to really understand how bad Kerr is at his job, there’s dozens of better candidates out there who understand the basics like “don’t play shooting guards at power forward”. If GSW had a coach who simply limited their SGs to only play SG, they would win all these winnable games they lose by Kerr’s insistence in going small. It’s not even a talent thing – look at Kuminga. It’s 100% Kerr. This is a better team than what Kerr allows them to be. They aren’t that bad. Having the Kerr handicap + being over .500 on March 4 with all these injuries should speak more to yall than it’s doing.
Kerr won’t be back.
Jimmy highly unlikely to ever play a game for Warriors again. No NBA player over 34 has come back from ACL surgery. He knows it. That’s why he delayed 1 month to have his surgery.
GSW is NOT trading any picks. Adding 6 wins to mid doesn’t make any difference.
It’s done.
If Kerr is gone, and Butler’s $ can be replaced by anyone healthy, they are going to be contenders.
Adding 6 wins to a .500 team is a 47 win team, that usually gets you into the top 6.
Once again, everyone is hypberbolizing GSW so hard that they are acting like they are a 15 win team, but they are way better than that.
Who is taking on Butler’s $60M contract?
Give me a team that:
Wants to tank
Has $60M in cap space
Has players that can help W’s in a trade.
I can’t find any.
Pelicans baby!!!
But also the Bucks, Lakers, Clippers, Jazz, Kings, Wizards, Nets.
Gap year, wahoo.
For ALL the fans here who have no clue what development of players is all about. This is just to show. That all players worth developing. Takes time and commitment. Different talents and positions. Develop different. And in their own time. It’s worth it when you believe in what you do. Player and Franchise.
Raynaud is only going to get better. Cause he is a smart kid and is committed. He is worth it for a team that needs size. The Kings had Queta for two yrs. And didn’t think he was worth developing. Then they luck into Raynaud. Cause of Warriors blinders to win now …. Raynaud is 22. Queta was drafted at 22 by Kings. And tiday at 26 yrs old. He had a career night.
27 mins, 27 pts, 17 rebounds, 3 blk … Celtics thank You very much Kings.
All teams miss on players once in awhile. It’s so much better to believe in someone and see the results…..
Savor it. This is for ALL the haters and glass is half empty lifers on here. Try to feel good about someone who paid the price with time. And 4 yrs later is basking in success 👏👏🙏
Still don’t understand why you are so obsessed with Raynaud and the Warriors. Raynaud started at out at Stockton. He only came up because Sabonis went down and Saric sucks. If the Warriors had drafted him, he would have spent the season at Santa Cruz. He would have been behind Post on the depth chart. So, it is better for his career that the Warriors didn’t draft him.
You’re the only obsessed one. I’m talking about players development. And I why its worth it to see it thru. Of course you don’t see or care.
3 of the last 5 posting on here have included items about Santos. The Warriors drafted him and developed him. You are dismissive of Quinten Post. What about Leons? Spencer had hardly any hoops background when they signed him. He is adding quality minutes.
Santos is just starting to show. You don’t know what playing real mins mean. Raynaud as a rookie plays more meaningful mins than any Warrior. And he has only started 37 gms. You are just a crybaby who only thinks about Warriors players. Who wouldn’t play on other teams.
Post avgs 16 mins. Doesn’t play like a center. Shows potential is still yrs away. Raynaud is starting now and playing 30 mins.
Spencer played HS ball was very good. He played a yr of college ball. And euro ball and in g-league. He has paid the price. And is a nice find. At 29 he probably doesn’t get a chance somewhere else. And he only plays 16 mins.
Santos is probably long term the best here. Cause he’s young. And his upside is rotation player. Raynaud is starting as a ROOKIE. What parts don’t you get. None of these players have the future of Raynaud. Learn the game and stop crying 😭😭
Santos has upside yet he also is playing 16 mins.
When they consistently play in the rotation and play 24 mins plus. Then you can talk …
LOL you don’t even understand why they only play 16 mins. Cause you don’t even understand the Warriors offense or Kerr.. Amusing
Post started as a rookie. In fact, he started during their surge to get to the playoffs last season.
Raynaud has gotten all those minutes because the Kings have had so many injuries. If the Warriors had drafted him, he would have spent the season in the GLeague.
Kings are a bit more enamored with their other rookie center. They signed Cardwell to a longer and bigger contract.
@giants74 I wonder if the Kings are just kicking themselves for playing hard ball with the warriors over Kuminga now. They didn’t want to trade anything but bad contracts for Kuminga.
Funny. Dunleavy wanted a promising young player and 1st for Kuminga. It kinda sounds like their evaluation of Kuminga’s value was right. What they got was how the NBA saw Kuminga.
They probably would have just taken a 1st round pick for him but nobody even offered that. I think the kings wished they sent Keegan Murray to the warriors for him. If he does well I don’t feel so bad about him leaving since 30 other teams passed on Kuminga too.
Kuminga value dropped cause of Warriors and Kerr handling of him. Kerr even bad mouth him in the press more than once. Warriors did it to themselves. Like I have been saying for three yrs now. Nothing wrong with accepting blame for your team once in awhile.
I am blaming kerr as the reason. I hope he retires. He is not good at playing young players and he hurts the rebuild process they need to take. i am about 80% sure he retires at the end of the year.
I also say too many NBA teams passed on Kuminga by wanting to low ball the warriors. Now when Kuminga plays well they have themselves to blame for being too cheap to trade for him. I can see playoff teams not trading for him but a rebuild team? That what doesn’t make sense.
There is one problem with Kuminga’s start in Atlanta. His shooting efficiency is way above his career efficiency. And, it is only 3 games. In other words, he could hit a slump.
Scouts are paid to look at a player and see where he will be in the future. They can see beyond how a player is handled.
Why should I take the blame for the Warriors mistakes? I don’t run the Front Office.
“Whatcha talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” ……thankU Arnold
Make up some more lies ….. anything can searched today in a min. Yet you still lie all the time. You don’t have to like Raynaud. Still a bad move passing on him. Wagoneers here don’t know talent like you. Its OK …
* WGaryRedSoxxWarriors January 23, 2026 By the way against the Cavaliers tonight, who have two excellent big men, Maxine is having such a wonderful game. Yep a quality big man lol. Whoever labeled him as that, I can only guess from conversations of two months ago. Evidence states otherwise. It’s ridiculous the amount of garbage spewed by commenters on this site who have no clue. “Warriors need a big man” they cry. “Here’s a guy who was great in college” they bemoan. Yup, simply displaying zero NBA basketball acumen.
Wagoneers don’t know talent. Can’t even debate it. Haters only see the worst in players. The wagoneers only see the players that stay. The world is a big place. Plenty of talent out there. Real ball.
GS is not a playoff team. It’s that simple.
Everyone knows that but Davey. There is not 1 team in the NBA that can lose their 2 top players and be considered a playoff team. That is just reality.
If the Dubs lose the play in. They are in the Lottery. Maybe get a top ten pick
maybe the NBA can do the warriors a favor like they did for teh Mavs?
Was thinking the same thing.
“We don’t even talk about it. It’s not anything that is worth discussing“
Yeah because they’ve got a better chance of falling to 10th place than they do of climbing to 6th.
I will be surprise if they finish ahead of Clippers (unless leonard gets hurt) or hold off Blazers.
With 20 gms left. Blazers, Clippers, Warriors should all be tanking. Blazers have a top 14 protected pick. Both Clippers and Warriors need help with a lottery pick. Even a 14-16 pick is a valuable next draft. I wouldn’t play Curry and risk injury.
I doubt they play Curry because that type of knee injury takes a lot of time to heal. He should shut it down on off field stuff too.
They should officially not play Curry off-ball ever again. That era is over. Make him play like a regular PG again. No more running marathons off ball. Would extend his career.
The team needs a rebuild with young athletic players. No more players over 30.