One of the most encouraging developments of the Warriors’ 2025-26 season will continue with Golden State.
Gui Santos, 23, agreed to a multi-year contract extension on Saturday, the team announced. Instead of becoming a restricted free agent at the end of this season, he’ll reportedly be under contract through at least 2027-28 (with a player option for 2028-29).
The team didn’t initially disclose details, as is standard practice, but ESPN’s Shams Charania reported (opens in new tab) that the extension is worth $15 million over three years, including the player option.
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“Happy for Gui, and happy for us,” head coach Steve Kerr said on Saturday. “He’s become one of our most important players. We’re all just so thrilled for him.”
Santos represents a success story of the Warriors’ organizational development ecosystem.
The 55th pick in the 2022 Draft out of Brazil, Santos spent his entire rookie campaign (and much of his second season), in Santa Cruz with the G League squad.
He joined the Warriors with a strong physical foundation at 6-foot-7, a point guard’s background, and with good on-court instincts. Speaking to reporters a day before his extension was finalized, Santos said the key word that helped him get to this point in his career is “patience.”
“My goal always was playing in the NBA, playing for the Warriors,” Santos said. “And I asked them what I got to do to do that, and they said, ‘We’re gonna give you the way. You got to play hard on defense, you got to be crashing the boards all the time, and you just got to find Steph — it’s easy. So I said, ‘All right, I’m doing that.’ I was just working at that in my first couple years.”
Indeed, he did it.
Santos improved his 3-point stroke at the G League level and emerged as a true depth option for Kerr last season.
Santos even played a role in the playoffs, playing 10 games and factoring in more after Steph Curry’s strained hamstring in the second round. But Santos’ first taste of playoff basketball exposed some of his weaknesses, like on-ball creation. He committed three turnovers in Game 2 against the Timberwolves and had a minimal impact in that five-game series.
This season, Santos’ handle is tighter and he has earned even more opportunities. Before Jimmy Butler’s season-ending injury, he had established himself as a reliable energy guy off the bench.
And after Butler’s torn ACL, Santos has stepped into a bigger role, letting his improvements blossom.
Santos has scored in double figures in 11 of the past 12 games. In that span he has shot 59% from the field and 43% from deep, averaging 15 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.8 asssists, and 2.5 stocks per game.
“You just appreciate when somebody is able to rise up from the bottom of the second round to where he is now, as a starter, as a crucial player for us,” Kerr said. “It’s a great story, but it only happens because of his testicular fortitude, his work ethic, commitment. It’s a great day.”
Practically every team searches for players with positional size who can shoot 3-pointers. Santos, a true power forward in today’s game, has proven that the shot is real.
He’s at 39% from beyond the 3-point arc this year and ranks in the 96th percentile in effective field goal percentage, per Cleaning The Glass. (opens in new tab) That stat, more than anything, captures Santos’ healthy shot diet — he takes catch-and-shoot 3-pointers, dunks in transition, and layups from off-ball cuts.
The Warriors are 2.9 points per 100 possessions better with Santos on the court compared to when he’s off it this season. He registers in the 86th percentile in Daily Plus-Minus (opens in new tab), a predictive metric that measures holistic player impact.
Cap breakdown: What Santos’ extension means going forward
Just as every team values shooting, two-way forwards like Santos, they want to get as many of them on cheap deals as possible.
The Warriors accomplished that.
Santos’ three-year, $15 million extension slots him at roughly $5 million per year for the next two seasons. That should be a big benefit for Golden State’s team-building strategy, whichever form it should take.
With Curry ($62 million next year) and Butler ($56.8 million) on max deals, signing productive players to cheap or minimum deals becomes paramount to filling out the roster.
Santos penciled in at $5 million for next season gives the Warriors roughly $182 million in committed salary to nine players. That includes Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton, and Al Horford, who each have player options.
The luxury tax threshold for next season is estimated to be $201.7 million. Staying under that figure would give the Warriors access to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, a tool that could be valuable to retain a player like Melton.
No matter the Warriors’ grand plan, having Santos on a bargain deal provides flexibility.
Whether he’s an energy rebounder and cutter like he was before Butler’s injury or someone who can flash more off-the-bounce offensive juice like he has in the weeks since, Santos should outplay a $5 million annual value.
“He’s been probably our best shot creator, just in terms of finding something out of nothing,” Kerr said of Santos’ play since Butler’s torn ACL. “He does it in multiple ways. He can do it in a 1-on-1 situation, with a live dribble. He can do it with a cut, where he catches a pass. But without Jimmy, Gui really has seized the opportunity, the minutes that we’ve given him. But also the role within the offense because of that void Jimmy left.”