The Warriors have rattled off seven straight wins, and that kind of run tends to smooth over a lot of rough edges. Stephen Curry is still operating like a superstar.
Yaxel Lendeborg has stepped in as a legitimate second scoring option. And the small-ball look Golden State has turned to with Kristaps Porzingis out has actually held up.
That matters for a team carrying close to $90 million on the sidelines, with that money likely staying there until around mid-season. It also means the Warriors can afford to win while sorting through the details.
But the margin for error is still thin, and depth is going to matter. Gui Santos is supposed to be part of that equation.
Right now, though, he’s been hard to trust. Santos has appeared in only three of Golden State’s last six games, and he logged just 11 minutes in Saturday’s overtime win over the Orlando Magic. When he has been on the floor since the tendinitis issue surfaced, the production has been muted: three points per game on 40% shooting over his last three outings.
That hasn’t sunk the Warriors. They’ve worked around it during the streak. But if this group is going to get where it wants to go, Santos needs to get back to something close to full strength, and soon.
The encouraging part for Golden State is that it has options. Georges Niang and Will Richard have both started in Santos’ place, and Lendeborg’s emergence has taken some of the pressure off Santos to replicate the late-season burst he showed a year ago. Still, that stretch is impossible to ignore.
Over his final 29 games in 2025-26, Santos moved into the starting lineup when Butler, Moody, and Stephen Curry were out and averaged 15.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and four assists while hitting 34.3% of his 3-pointers. He was also becoming a more confident interior scorer, and his footwork around the rim - even against bigger defenders - stood out.
That exact role may not be waiting for him now. In this setup, Santos is more likely to be asked to space the floor and knock down 3s consistently, especially when he’s sharing the court with Lendeborg. Once Butler and Moody are back, he could slide into the bench group, which would ease the offensive burden even more.
Still, there will be nights when the Warriors need him. Maybe that comes if Curry misses a few games and Santos is pushed into the starting five. Maybe it comes with the second unit, where shaky perimeter shooting from Niang or Horford forces Santos to create offense inside to keep the non-Curry minutes afloat.
Tendinitis can linger, and that makes the injury worth watching. But the bigger point is simple: Golden State needs more from Santos when he’s right. If the Warriors want to get the most out of this rotation, his next step matters.
In Other News...
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Warriors Injury Situation Just Made This Rockets Test Feel Different
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Will Richard is among the names to watch after being listed as questionable with a left thumb UCL tear, and he is part of a broader list of players on both teams dealing with availability concerns. For Golden State, that adds another layer to a road test that was already going to say plenty about where this group stands early in the season. A strong start has given the Warriors some breathing room, but the kind of game they get in Houston could hinge as much on who is available as on who is playing best. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Backcourt Plans Could Suddenly Revive A Familiar Reunion Talk
The Warriors eight-game surge has only sharpened the sense that this group is back in the kind of position where bigger roster ideas start to surface. After the win over New Orleans, Golden State is once again being mentioned in the same breath as high-end names such as LeBron James and Anthony Davis, which tells you how quickly the conversation can shift when a team starts stacking victories and looking ahead to the next offseason.
Jordan Poole has also re-entered the picture in a way that would have sounded unlikely not long ago, with the former Warrior saying he would be open to a return as a free agent. If Golden State does end up with more salary cap flexibility next offseason, the front office may have more room to explore familiar paths as well as splashier ones, and that is the kind of backdrop that keeps reunion talk alive even when the roster is already rolling. [Read more 🡒]