Gui Santos was undoubtedly the biggest positive for the Golden State Warriors over the final months of last season, but an underwhelming summer for the franchise could see the Brazilian forward pay the price by losing his role in the starting lineup.
Santos started 28 of the team's last 31 games at the end of last season, yet a desire to showcase exciting lottery pick Yaxel Lendeborg could push the 24-year-old back to the bench depending on how the two perform across training camp and preseason.
Gui Santos could pay price for Warriors' underwhelming offseason
The Warriors missed out in their pursuit of LeBron James. The asking price for the likes of Jaylen Brown and Anthony Davis was too high. Giannis Antetokounmpo angled himself to the Miami Heat, while Kawhi Leonard did the same with the Toronto Raptors.
In other words, Golden State didn't land a star. They didn't even make a notable free agency acquisition, having prioritized bringing back their own players and waiting nearly two months until they signed a rival player.
This sounds like good news for Santos on the surface, but it also confirms Lendeborg as the Warriors' biggest and easily most exciting addition to last season's team. His form through summer league suggests the 11th overall pick might win a starting role over Santos on merit anyway, but there's also the factor of Golden State showcasing Lendeborg as their newest and most exciting aspect.
For as good as Santos was toward the end of last season, and as much as fans are eager to see if he can continue that going forward, there will be more eyes on Lendeborg to see if the 23-year-old can meaningfully change Golden State's trajectory.
Steve Kerr already hints at starting role for Yaxel Lendeborg
Kerr has already discussed the possibility of starting Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis together, suggesting Santos is already on the backfoot entering an important training camp and preseason.
There is an argument that Santos and Lendeborg should start together which would push Draymond Green to the bench, but Kerr's faith and trust in the veteran forward suggests that's an unlikely outcome entering the season.
Kerr and the Warriors do have a history of ushering a prized lottery pick into a starting role. Former second overall pick James Wiseman made a somewhat shock start on opening night against the Brooklyn Nets in 2020, with that coming despite missing the entirety of preseason due to Covid-19 protocols.
Lendeborg is likely to be far better prepared for a starting role, leaving a strong possibility that Santos comes off the bench in a potential sixth man role where he'll still be a big part of Kerr's rotation.
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