Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr expects Gui Santos to remain an important part of the team’s rotation after the Brazilian forward enjoyed the most productive campaign of his NBA career.
Selected with the 55th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Santos initially developed with Golden State’s G League affiliate in Santa Cruz before gradually establishing himself at the NBA level.
After appearing in 23 games during his second season and 56 contests in 2024-25, Santos took another significant step forward last season.
The forward played 68 games, including 30 starts, and recorded career-high averages of 9.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest.
Kerr praised Santos’ commitment to improvement and his willingness to embrace different responsibilities throughout his development.
“Gui’s great,” Kerr said. “Just from Day 1, the energy that he brought, coachability, wanting to get better, being in the gym all the time, soaking up the knowledge that he needed, and then building up the reps in Santa Cruz. Playing there for at least a couple years – two, three years – night after night, playing heavy minutes … now he’s worked his way up where he’s going to be again one of our most important players. He’s a guy everybody would love to coach. Just how hard he plays, and the knowledge and the awareness of how to play.”
Santos became particularly valuable following Jimmy Butler’s ACL injury on January 19, with additional absences involving Stephen Curry and Moses Moody increasing his offensive responsibilities.
Over his final 35 regular-season appearances, including 28 starts, Santos averaged 14.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 50.8 percent from the field.
However, Kerr also identified areas where the 24-year-old must continue developing, including his outside shooting and decision-making.
“Just continued growth shooting the ball. We asked a lot of him last year, and he turned it over quite a bit in those last 25 games when Steph was out,” Kerr said. “It was a good process for him to have to create shots for us because we didn’t have any other options, and then feel the mistakes that he made at the same time.
“We’re just looking for continued growth. He’s a focal point of our team, our offense. But fitting next to Steph, next to Jimmy when he’s back, where he’s still able to attack and make plays, but also being the role player, fill-in guy that he’s so good at.”
