The Golden State Warriors may be looking to include Draymond Green in a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo rather than Jimmy Butler, with Gui Santos making the franchise legend more expendable if that's the path the front office wants to go down.
No one's arguing that Santos is as important or as valuable as Green, but the Brazilian's recent form proves he could be ready for an interim starting role. With Antetokounmpo's current calf strain likely to sideline him for another month, any trade would leave the Warriors needing to fill power forward minutes until the 2x MVP's return.
Gui Santos is playing career best basketball right now
Even with Green playing 33 minutes during Friday night's131-124 loss to the Detroit Pistons, Santos still had a major role in playing 25 minutes off the bench. The 23-year-old had 16 points and two steals in 25 minutes, shooting 7-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
There's no doubt that Santos is playing career-best basketball right now, having already seen more opportunity in the wake of Butler's season-ending knee injury. Friday's performance was his third consecutive game in double-digit scoring -- the first time he's completed such a feat in his career.
Santos also had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds earlier in the week against the Minnesota Timberwolves, before adding 16 points, three rebounds and four assists during Wednesday's win over the Utah Jazz.
The third-year forward has always been able to impact the game in short-bursts with his hustle and tenacity, but now there's increased confidence in his own scoring ability. Santos is proving an adept finisher around the rim with crafty footwork and pumpfakes, while also be a capable 3-point shooter. That's culminated in shooting 50% from the floor on the season and a reasonable 36.7% from beyond the arc.
His role going forward will be incredibly interesting, particularly with Golden State seemingly preferring to trade Green rather than Butler in an Antetokounmpo trade, as reported again by The Stein Line on Saturday.
We've heard further strong indications that the Warriors' pursuit of Antetokounmpo is unlikely to involve Jimmy Butler's contract after Butler sustained a season-ending knee tear on Jan. 19," Marc Stein and Jake Fischer wrote.
If such a trade was made, the Warriors would have to try and hold the fort until Antetokounmpo's return from injury. With Butler and Antetokounmpo on the sidelines, and Green (and Jonathan Kuminga) involved in the trade, suddenly Santos' importance to the team could suddenly become far greater than anyone would have envisaged.