Warriors make correct move on young player amid strong early season form

Roster depth has been one of the biggest storylines for the Golden State Warriors so far this season, helping them to a 9-2 record and equal top of the NBA's Western Conference.

Head coach Steve Kerr has often gone to a 12-man rotation, with 13 of Golden State's 14 main roster players having averaged at least 11.9 minutes through the first 11 games.

The Warriors have sent Gui Santos to the G League

The only player not to have seen rotation minutes this season is Gui Santos, with the Brazilian forward having only featured in 20 garbage time minutes across five games. As a result the Warriors have announced they've assigned Santos to the G League, allowing the 22-year-old to get some much needed playing time with Santa Cruz.

Santos had averaged 7.7 minutes across Golden State's six preseason games, averaging 1.8 points, 1.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists. It comes after he had a significant role for Brazil at the Paris Olympics during the offseason.

This is the correct move from the Warriors with Santos highly unlikely to crack the deep rotation. It also significantly bolsters Santa Cruz's hopes of a strong start to the season, having split their opening pair of games against the Valley Suns last weekend.

The Warriors claimed a dominant 133-118 victory last Friday night thanks to a massive 25 points and 15 rebounds from rookie center Quinten Post. The Suns responded 24 hours later though, opening up a 25-point lead by half-time before eventually winning 133-104.

Rookie guard Reece Beekman was clearly the most consistent player for Santa Cruz across the two games, averaging 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists in an impressive start for the 23-year-old who went undrafted in June.

Santos is no stranger to playing with Santa Cruz after playing 32 games in the G League over the past two seasons. He averaged 8.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 2022-23, before putting up 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 15 games last season.

Santos showed some impressive signs in 23 games with Golden State during his rookie year, averaging 3.6 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 50.9% from the floor and 37% from three-point range.

Santa Cruz will host the South Bay Lakers at Kaiser Permanente Arena on Friday from 7PM PT, before heading on the road for three games against the Stockton Kings (one) and Salt Lake City Stars (two) over the next 10 days.