Draymond Green’s future with the Golden State Warriors is already under a cloud, and the pressure around his role only grows if Gui Santos keeps building on what he showed late last season.
Golden State just handed Green a one-year, $27.7 million deal in free agency, but that hasn’t stopped the conversation about where he fits next. Yaxel Lendeborg has drawn plenty of attention after being drafted 11th overall in June’s NBA Draft and then tearing through summer league, where he won MVP and helped lead the team to a championship. Still, Santos is the other forward who could end up reshaping the picture in a big way.
Santos has been easy to overlook in the starting lineup discussion, but he earned more than a passing mention with the way he finished last season. After a slow first 2.5 years, he found his footing in a real way. Over 31 games from January 28 onward, Santos put up 15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 51.5% from the field and 35.6% from 3-point range.
What stood out most was how he produced offensively. His footwork and finishing around the rim gave the Warriors another layer, especially as Steve Kerr looked for scoring options without the injured Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry. That kind of stretch should matter when the team is trying to climb from 19th in offense last season.
Even so, the early talk has mostly centered on Lendeborg joining Green in a forward pairing while Butler is out. But that doesn’t have to be the default outcome. A frontcourt featuring Santos, Lendeborg and Kristaps Porzingis should at least be in the mix, particularly if Golden State is treating this as a “gap year” after an offseason that left them empty-handed on LeBron James and other trade and free-agent pursuits.
If the Warriors really are in that kind of holding pattern, the logic shifts toward development. Giving Santos and Lendeborg real runway could make sense, and if that happens, Green could be the one pushed to the bench. From there, a midseason move becomes much easier to imagine, especially with Green on an expiring contract and after waiving his implied no-trade clause.
That possibility only gets stronger if Santos and Lendeborg both prove they can start and Butler makes it back from injury. In that scenario, Green’s hold on a Warriors role looks a lot less secure.
Golden State is clearly moving toward something new. If Santos and Lendeborg seize those starting jobs, the change won’t be subtle. It could be the kind of shift that ends Green’s run with the franchise altogether.
In Other News...
Warriors Jokic Dream Suddenly Feels Less Impossible
The Nuggets recent move with Peyton Watson did more than reshape their roster for the moment, it reopened a long-running conversation about how Denver plans to build around Nikola Jokic going forward. Anytime a franchise with a generational star makes a cost-saving or future-focused deal, the ripple effects are immediate, and in this case they have only added fuel to the idea that Jokics situation is worth watching beyond this season.
George Karl added another layer by questioning whether Denver is the kind of organization that can fully support a player of Jokics stature over the long haul. For Warriors fans, that matters because the next offseason keeps coming into view as a possible inflection point, with talk of Jokic eventually reaching free agency and the notion of him in Golden State no longer sounding quite as far-fetched as it once did. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Just Raised The Stakes With Gui Santos
Gui Santos is staying with Golden State for the next step of his development, a choice that says plenty about how seriously the Warriors are taking his place in their plans. Instead of leaving for two upcoming World Cup qualifiers with Brazil, Santos and the organization are putting a premium on training camp and the kind of season prep that can help a young player turn a late-year surge into a real rotation spot.
That matters because Santos showed enough down the stretch last season to get the Warriors attention, and now the challenge is translating that momentum into a larger role in a crowded roster. Golden State has veteran experience and fresh additions in the mix, but Santos decision to stay put suggests the team sees a path for him to be more than a fringe contributor if he keeps building on what he flashed before. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Suddenly Have Two Intriguing Young Options For Open Roster Spots
The Warriors search for depth at the bottom of the roster is starting to take shape, and it could get a little more interesting in the coming days. Golden State is reportedly planning to bring former Philadelphia 76ers wing Dalen Terry into camp on a training camp contract, giving the team another look at a young player while it sorts through the final spots on the roster. With two main openings still available, the front office appears willing to keep one eye on veteran stability and another on development.
There may also be a fresh opportunity to add more youth to the mix. A five-team trade involving the Washington Wizards has put Cam Whitmore and Julian Reese into the conversation as possible camp candidates, and both would fit the kind of low-risk, upside swing the Warriors have shown interest in before. For a team trying to balance immediate needs with long-term flexibility, those open roster spots could wind up being more competitive than they looked a few days ago. [Read more 🡒]