Golden State With Mates · Peter O'Keefe

WARRIORS JUST GOT A MASSIVE STEAL WITH GUI SANTOS CONTRACT!

March 2, 2026·28 min·2 clips
Guy Santos, the 55th overall pick, just signed a three-year $15 million extension with the Warriors.
1. Golden State with Mates reviews Gui Santos's new contract extension and recaps a 129-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at Chase Center. 2. The episode has one host speaking solo; no guests are introduced, and the host mentions it is Monday morning in Australia and his birthday weekend. 3. The core thesis is that the Santos signing is the clearest positive for a Warriors franchise dealing with multiple simultaneous injury and communication problems. 4. Santos signed a three-year, $15 million deal with a third-year player option, equating to approximately $5 million per season. 5. The host notes Santos was the 55th overall pick who spent time in the G League, making the extension a notable career development for a late second-round selection. 6. Over his last 12 games, Santos has scored 10 or more points in 11 of them, averaging 15.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists on 60.2% shooting and 44.2% from three. 7. The host argues the contract is structurally risk-free: at $5 million annually, Santos doesn't need to be a guaranteed starter, and even in a worst-case scenario a second-round pick could facilitate moving him. 8. He draws a parallel to the Denver Nuggets moving Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas as evidence that $5-6 million contracts are always movable if necessary. 9. The unresolved question the host raises is whether Santos can hold a starting role on a championship-caliber team once Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler are both healthy—a test that won't come until at least the following season. 10. The host identifies Quinton Post as the indirect loser of the Santos extension, predicting Post's restricted free-agency value has dropped from a potential three-year $15 million range to something closer to $9 or $10 million total. 11. Moses Moody is mentioned as a comparable case of a team-friendly contract—roughly $11-13 million per year—that the Warriors would be reluctant to trade without receiving significant value in return. 12. The Lakers win 129-101, shooting 53.3% from the floor and 46.3% from three (19-of-41) while the Warriors shoot 45.1% from the floor and 27.3% from three with approximately 10 turnovers. 13. The host attributes the offensive struggles to roster depletion—Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Kristaps Porzingis all unavailable—but singles out the lack of defensive intensity as inexcusable regardless of personnel. 14. Draymond Green's defensive performance is criticized directly: the host argues Green's sole remaining value during this stretch is defensive leadership, and when that disappears the justification for his starting role and prominent minutes evaporates. 15. Steph Curry appeared in an ESPN interview with Malika Andrews and indicated his return from runner's knee will take longer than anticipated, confirming he has not resumed on-court work. 16. The host is reluctant to endorse shutting Curry down for the season but acknowledges the Warriors are locked into the eighth seed and not moving up. 17. Steve Kerr told 95.7 The Game that Porzingis's POTS diagnosis from last season was incorrectly applied, then publicly retracted the statement before the Lakers game, calling his comments 'ill-informed.' 18. The host calls Kerr's handling of the situation a 'PR disaster' that generated more speculation about Porzingis's condition rather than resolving it, and wonders whether the episode could affect the team's ability to re-sign Porzingis in the offseason. 19. The episode is a solo monologue with a conversational, sometimes self-deprecating tone; the host briefly mentions nursing a birthday hangover during the Lakers game. 20. Best for Warriors fans tracking the Santos extension and the Porzingis medical situation; not for listeners looking for game-level tactical analysis.

As heard by us

Santos' extension opens into a sharper Warriors roster question.

The piece treats Guy Santos' three-year, $15 million extension as a basketball call, not a sentimental one, which is the right angle. It argues that Santos has earned a bigger role during Jimmy Butler's season-ending ACL absence and that the front office's bet makes sense under…

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Why you'd press play

Santos' three-year, $15 million extension gives the Warriors a rare bright spot after the Lakers loss.

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