‘Gui is different, man’: Why Warriors’ draft pick Santos looks ahead of schedule

Those visits have offered Santos, 20, much-needed familiarity in a year defined by change: a new country, a new style of basketball, a new caliber of competition . After looking overwhelmed early in the G League season, he started to grasp the Santa Cruz Warriors’ read-and-react system, post gaudier stats and reinforce management’s belief in him.

“He’s really learning how he can have an impact,” Santa Cruz head coach Seth Cooper said. “What really stands out is his quick decision-making, which is something that should translate to the NBA. We’re all very excited about him.”

In June, Golden State took Santos with the fourth-to-last pick in the NBA draft because it thought maybe, just maybe , he could someday blossom into a back-end rotation player at the sport’s highest level. But after averaging 16.8 points on 52.6% shooting (34.8% from 3-point range) over his past eight G League games, Santos appears ahead of schedule.

At 6-foot-8, 209 pounds with a 7-foot wingspan, smooth jumper and high basketball IQ, he is a strong candidate for a two-way contract with the big club next season. Some scouts estimate that Santos could crack Golden State’s regular rotation as soon as 2024-25.

If that happens, he would make good on all the social-media messages he receives from young Brazilian players who consider him the next big thing. Gone are the days when such famous Brazilians as Leandro Barbosa, Nenê and Tiago Splitter held significant roles on winning teams. The only active NBA player from South America’s largest country is point guard Raul Neto, who’s averaging just 3.1 points for the Cavaliers.

But to even log a minute in a regular-season NBA game, Santos knows he must continue learning on the fly in a minor league loaded with higher-profile prospects.

Just several weeks ago, still unsure how to operate in a motion offense, he drove toward the rim almost every time he caught the ball. Though conversationally fluent in English, Santos often misunderstood his coaches’ directives. The culture shock, both on the court and off, left him severely homesick.

“The hardest part is just being so far from family and friends,” Santos said. “I’m used to having my parents at a lot of my games and being in a familiar environment. But I’ve always wanted this, so I get that it’s just something I need to go through.”

Shortly after the Warriors drafted Santos, they worked out a deal with Minas — his club in Brazil’s top league — for him to develop stateside with Golden State’s G League affiliate. This is different from the more conventional route of international projects staying overseas until they’re NBA-ready.

It didn’t matter to Santos that Santa Cruz would only pay him $40,500 for the 50-game season, a fraction of what he’d made with Minas. By joining the G League, he could adjust to life in America, build relationships throughout the Warriors’ organization and potentially accelerate his path to the NBA.

This is a dream Santos has long shared with his father, Deivisson, a bruising center for well over a decade in South American pro leagues. When Minas officials asked a 14-year-old Gui in 2016 to move a 10-hour drive from his hometown of Brasilia to train year-round in Belo Horizonte, Deivisson didn’t hesitate.

“This is something you must do,” Santos recalled his dad telling him. “You have a chance to make the NBA.”

After crying himself to sleep his first few months in Belo Horizonte, Santos slipped into a routine and started to dominate Brazil’s youth ranks. By the time Barbosa joined Minas in 2018 after a season with rival Franca and a decorated NBA career, Santos was the country’s most promising young prospect: a versatile forward who could defend multiple positions, initiate the offense and knock down open jumpers.

Though Santos didn’t play with the senior team much during Barbosa’s two seasons there, he dueled Barbosa in practice and peppered the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year with questions. After Barbosa encouraged him to learn English to ease his eventual transition stateside, Santos began to study U.S. movies, TV and music. His knowledge of pop culture now rivals that of many Americans his age.

“I’ve been around some talented players who just didn’t have the drive it takes to be truly great,” Santa Cruz center Jayce Johnson said. “But Gui? Gui is different, man. This is a guy who had the foresight to teach himself English just because it could help him get to the league. That says it all.”

Such dedication was part of what compelled Golden State to take a late flyer on Santos in the draft. Barbosa — a Warriors assistant at the time — had told team executives about how Santos arrived at Minas workouts two hours early, stayed out of trouble and got markedly better each year.

In 2021, Santos declared for the NBA draft, only to withdraw his name after deciding he wasn’t ready. Over the next year, he gained muscle, improved his vertical leap, debuted with Brazil’s senior national team and solidified himself as one of Minas’ best players. Santos’ pre-draft workout with the Warriors this past spring convinced the front office that he was at least ready for the G League.

“We had a lot of conversations with him throughout the draft process, and it was very clear he just wants to be the best player he can be,” Santa Cruz general manager David Fatoki said. “With that in mind, this seemed like the place for him right now.”

Before a home game against the Sioux Falls Skyforce last Friday, Santos was in the layup line when a popular reggaeton song thumped through the loudspeakers. As he shook his hips and shrugged his shoulders, he turned toward a teammate and shouted, “This is my song!”

In that moment, Santos looked like any other Gen Zer. Only most Gen Zers don’t shoot 48.2% from the field against G League competition, shoulder the expectations of 45 million Brazilian NBA fans or (realistically) hope to share a roster with Stephen Curry.

Still, Santos can’t fret over when he’ll trade his team-provided Santa Cruz hotel room for a penthouse apartment in San Francisco. This past Saturday, after scoring just six points in that loss to Sioux Falls, he woke up early to review the game film with Deivisson over FaceTime.

“I still have so much work to do to achieve my dreams,” Santos said. “... I’m just happy there’s a place nearby like Cafe Brasil, where I can get a little taste of home when I need it.”

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron