Santa Cruz Warriors at Iowa Wolves: Jones’ 29 leads top-3 performers

Here were the three best Santa Cruz Warriors players in their loss to the Iowa Wolves last Sunday.

The Santa Cruz Warriors, NBA G League affiliate of the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors, lost 97-105 to the Iowa Wolves last Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena. This marked the end of Santa Cruz’s win streak of four consecutive games, each of which came at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

The Sea Dubs stand as the second-best team in the G League’s Western Conference, holding a regular season record of 5-3. They’ll look to improve that record to 6-3 on Wednesday when they go to visit the Texas Legends at Dr. Pepper Arena.

This year’s Santa Cruz squad has exceeded all of my early expectations. With a trio of returning players leading the way alongside a handful of Warriors training camp invites, the Sea Dubs have unexpectedly been great right out of the gate, which has certainly taken almost everyone in the G League by surprise.

As of right now, the Sea Dubs rank fifth in points per game (117.0), eighth in rebounds per game (45.3), first in assists per game (27.9) and ninth in opponents’ points per game (103.5). New head coach Aaron Miles has picked up right where former head coach Casey Hill left off, getting the absolute most out of each of his players while utilizing the Warriors system.

Santa Cruz has already lost Antonius Cleveland to an early season call-up, and I wouldn’t be surprised if every other team continues to poach players from the minor league Dubs as the season progresses.

Other than the very last player on this list, the following is a group of players I believe have a very real chance of getting called up to the NBA.