In a California Classic match with Sacramento’s Keegan Murray, the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, there were times when Golden State Warriors second-round pick Gui Santos looked like the best player on the court.
The Brazilian forward dropped 23 points on his 7-of-13 shot on his Summer League debut, with six rebounds, three steals and a block in 25 minutes. Murray scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Kings to an 86-68 win at the Chase Center on Saturday night.
“Santos was good,” said Seth Cooper, head coach of the Warriors Summer League. “I mean, for a guy who hasn’t done all the exercises that we had, you see him really aggressive. … We want to be able to see him with the ball in his hands and we saw that. He has to do plays. I think the more he does that throughout Summer League and his career, the better he’ll be. But he has shown a knack for making an impact offensively for a player playing for the first time in the United States.”
Santos’ evening got off to a shaky start due to ball safety issues. He almost got stripped on his first two rides, then threw a bad bounce pass into traffic, resulting in a turnover. But as Santos settled in, it became clear why the Warriors were willing to take a risk on the 20-year-old and their understanding of what he could become.
“Before the game I was nervous because it’s a different game here,” said Santos. “And I’m playing outside of my country, my family isn’t here. … But once I started playing, I gained confidence, like catching the ball, making plays, and I started to feel better and I felt right at home.”
Despite finishing with just one assist, Santos threw plenty of skillful passes on time and on target, showing some of the advantages he possesses as a playmaker. But tending to basketball is one area the 6-foot-7 wing needs to keep working on, as evidenced by his game-high six turnovers. Timely decision-making has been a focus for Santos in practice, Cooper said.
“I thought you saw it with the first few possessions, he caught it, he held it, he secured it,” Cooper said. “And at that level the guy guarding him will be really good and athletic. But now all defense is down and there’s a case for making a quick decision, even if it’s not the right decision. So that was the main thing we worked on in the short time we had after practice to be able to play through the catch.”
The most intriguing aspect of Santos’ performance was his body control. He knows how to use his 6ft 7 frame to his advantage, which he showed off smaller defenders by tough, creative buckets around the rim. His transition steal followed by a Euro-Step finish down the other end was arguably the highlight of the game.
“Everyone in Brazil knows me because I know how it’s done,” said Santos, whose mentor and former Minas teammate Leandro Barbosa is reportedly leaving the Warriors staff to become an assistant coach with the Kings. “I like doing this move…to use my body while doing the Eurostep. So I always do that. You’re going to see a lot of that here.”
His aggressiveness while dribbling allowed him to live at the free-throw line throughout the game, where he put down eight of his 11 attempts. His 3-point shot was a bit shallow at times (he shot 1 of 4 from deep), but his form was fluid and he should become a more efficient long-range shooter with more practice reps.
Despite the loss, it was a promising debut for the 55th overall winner. Once a relatively unknown prospect, Santos should now be seen as one of the top players to watch as Summer League resumes.
Sure, it’s just a league game this summer against a Kings roster made up mostly of guys who will never play a minute in the NBA. But it was still impressive.
“I did well today,” he said. “In my head I thought, ‘I have to do well, show what I can do.’ Because in Brazil we don’t have a lot of people coming down to see Brazilian players, so I have to introduce myself here first. That was what drove me during the game.”
CJ Holmes covers the Warriors for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cj.holmes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @CjHolmes22