The Golden State Warriors suffered a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night, but beforehand there was some positive news in the form of Gui Santos' new three-year, $15 million contract with the franchise.
There's not a whole lot going right for the Warriors currently on or off the floor, meaning Santos' new contract -- and the team-friendly nature of it -- comes at the absolute right time for the franchise to try and escape some of the negative publicity.
Gui Santos contract comes at the absolute right time for the Warriors
Golden State's season was turned on its head last month when Jimmy Butler suffered a season-ending torn ACL injury, while the team has now been without superstar guard Stephen Curry for the last 10 games due to his own knee injury.
In the last month the Warriors have also faced criticism for their decision to trade Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis, while Steve Kerr's communication of the veteran center's health issues have also been less than ideal in the past 48 hours.
On the floor Golden State are just 4-6 in their last 10 games and appear headed for the Play-In Tournament, having been stapled to the eighth-seed in the Western Conference standings for weeks.
After such an underwhelming season that's been impacted injury, and a trade for Porzingis that many would also label underwhelming, the Warriors need something positive to distract from their myriad of issues.
Santos' new contract provides just that, particularly when many fans and analysts have been quick to heap praise on the front office for being able to retain the Brazilian forward on a deal worth $5 million in annual salary.
Warriors have got a steal with Gui Santos' new contract
Santos' on-court development has been arguably the biggest positive for Golden State in the wake of Butler's injury, with the 23-year-old taking advantage of the increased opportunity to become a bonafide and now incredibly consistent rotation player.
Santos has scored double digits in 11 of the past 12 games, including scoring at least 14 points in 10 of those outings. The former 55th overall pick is averaging 15.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists in the last 12 games, shooting a highly efficient 60.2% from the floor and 44.2% from 3-point range.
Getting a consistent and high level rotation player on this sort of contract is incredibly valuable in today's CBA, and provides a nice change to recent moves from the Warrior front office that have often been criticized.