Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr is excited for unheralded forward Gui Santos in the wake of Jonathan Kuminga hurting his ankle once again.
Santos, an underrated Brazilian forward who does the dirty work for the Warriors, is expected to soak up Kuminga’s minutes if he misses time with the right ankle sprain.
“Gui is our highest plus-minus guy on the year,” Kerr told reporters. “Obviously, he doesn’t play a ton, but he plays a really important role.”
Santos is plus-143 across 49 games, per Statmuse, while only averaging 14 minutes per game off the bench. The three players — Stephen Curry (+245), Draymond Green (+238) and Brandin Podziemski (+199) — ahead of him are all playing starters minutes.
The 6-foot-8, 209-pound forward readily picked up the slack after Kuminga exited the Warriors’ 148-106 blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.
Santos finished with four points, six assists, four rebounds (three on the offensive glass) and had two steals in extended minutes. He was plus-18 in 24 minutes off the bench.
“He comes in and he gets offensive boards and he moves the ball and he plays with great energy,” Kerr said of Santos. “He’s a difference-maker and so I feel great about playing Gui if he has to play more with JK’s absence and he’ll be ready to go.”
The 22-year-old Santos is averaging 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his second season with the Warriors.
Santos, the Warriors’ 55th overall pick in 2022, toiled in the G League with the Santa Cruz Warriors before cracking Kerr’s rotation.
Gui Santos Serves as Cheap Insurance
Kerr revealed he checked in with Kuminga at halftime.
“Such a bummer,” Kerr told reporters of Kuminga’s latest injury. “[He was] just coming back, finding his rhythm, playing well. So, hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.”
The Warriors ruled out Kuminga for the remainder of the game with a right ankle soreness after he fell awkwardly on a strong drive to the basket with 6:69 left in the second quarter. The rising forward missed 32 games this season due to a significant ankle sprain.
Kuminga’s injury could not come at the worst possible time. They are already without Gary Payton II, their best perimeter defender who is out with a thumb injury. Kerr was banking on Kuminga to fill Payton’s defensive void.
Both Kuminga and Payton’s future with the team beyond this season is uncertain. Kuminga will enter restricted free agency while Payton will become an unrestricted free agent.
Santos gives the Warriors cheap insurance if they fail to retain either one of both Kuminga and Payton. They have a $2.2 million team option on Santos for the 2025-26 season.
Warriors in Tight Playoff Race
If Kuminga misses time, Kerr will bank on Santos to play a key role in the Warriors’ bid for a higher seeding in the playoffs.
As they await a Kuminga injury update, the Warriors will keenly watch the Monday night showdown between the Memphis Grizzlies and the defending champion Boston Celtics.
A Grizzlies loss would pull the Warriors just half a game back for the fifth seed ahead of their Tuesday matchup in Memphis.
“If we can beat Memphis, we get the tie-breaker over them,” Kerr told reporters. “That’s huge [as] we’re right there with them, [Minnesota Timberwolves] and [Los Angeles] Clippers and the Lakers are only a couple of games ahead. We got them after [the Grizzlies game]. So, it’s quite a race going down the stretch and we have a difficult schedule. Our last eight games are pretty tough, so we’re going to have to continue to play well and tonight’s win is a good momentum builder.”
Their next four games will be against teams ahead of them in the standings beginning with a critical matchup on Tuesday against the Grizzlies and then Lakers on Thursday.
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