The Golden State Warriors announced a major update prior to Wednesday's 104-100 loss against the Houston Rockets, with Jonathan Kuminga and De'Anthony Melton scrimmaging with Santa Cruz as they enter the final stages of their return from injury.
However, they weren't the only Golden State players to be assigned to Santa Cruz. Third-year forward Gui Santos was also part of the scrimmage, further proving that the Brazilian is well outside Golden State's rotation plans even as they battle growing injury concerns.
Gui Santos has failed to crack the rotation consistently this season
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Even with Kuminga sidelined for a seventh-straight game against the Rockets on Wednesday night, Santos has been unable to earn consistent minutes as a like-type replacement in terms of size and position in the rotation.
Santos did see just under six minutes in the second-half on Wednesday as Steve Kerr and the Warriors desperately tried to find some answer for Houston's dominance on the glass -- they had 25 offensive rebounds in the four-point win.
If anything Santos' minutes only further aided in the change of momentum towards the Rockets though. The former second-round pick missed both of his field-goal attempts, grabbed just one rebound, had two turnovers and was a -11 as Houston overcame a 12-point half-time deficit.
While the playing time for Santos may have stemmed from the rebounding element, it also came about due to an ankle injury to Gary Payton II who left the game in the first-half after less than five minutes on the floor.
In the seven games Kuminga has now missed, Kerr has preferred to go small by elevating Payton's minutes rather than keeping some size integrity by giving Santos more opportunity. We can argue vigorously either way on whether that's the right or wrong decision, but either way it doesn't say much about Santos' place in the Golden State pecking order.
Being assigned to the G League -- even if it's just to scrimmage -- isn't a great sign if you're a third-year player and it has nothing to do with injury. Yet that's the reality Santos has found himself in, having seen five DNPs so far this season while playing double-digit minutes on just four occasions.
With Kuminga's return imminent and an expiring contract that isn't even fully guaranteed until January 10, it's hard to see how Santos recovers from this current position in time to earn a new deal with the Warriors beyond this season.