Unlocking Opportunity: Braxton Key making waves in Santa Cruz

The G League’s best defender coming to an NBA court near you

Apr 10, 2025

With the way the Golden State Warriors have been rolling since the arrival of Jimmy Butler, it can be forgiven if you might not have been paying close attention to what’s been brewing with their G League affiliate down in Santa Cruz. But for those who have been tuning in, you may have noticed that Santa Cruz had somewhat of their own blockbuster-esque acquisition in the form of a versatile, 6’8, 28-year-old forward who completely transformed the makeup of their team.

Prelude

On March 4th, Golden State made two transactions at the NBA level that went slightly under the radar. The first was converting Pat Spencer from his two-way contract into a standard roster spot.

Spencer, a reserve guard, had seen sporadic minutes for the Warriors, which was starting to eat into his available NBA games (8 remaining at the time of his conversion). While the need for some depth at that position and having open roster spots to fill were significant factors, this was not a move the Warriors had to make; at least not as early as they did.

But making this move, which they had already earmarked, allowed for them to use the two-way spot Spencer’s conversion vacated to fill with another player; the deadline for doing so falling on that exact day. Taking advantage of this opportunity, they signed into that spot, Braxton Key, of the Los Angeles Clippers’ G League affiliate.

Key is a veteran of the G League, having appeared in over 150 games with multiple teams. He's also had a handful of stops in the NBA, accumulating 34 games across three years on 10-Day and Two-Way deals playing for the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Detroit Pistons.

While yet to find a permanent home in the NBA, Key has garnered a formidable reputation across the G League as one of its best defenders.

Santa Cruz Warriors Head Coach, Nicholas Kerr, went a step further in that praise earlier this year in a pre-game presser.

"We've been talking about him all year. Like this dude is the best player we've seen in the G League this year."

Dawn of a New Day

Much to the delight of Kerr and his staff, Key was able to very quickly acclimate himself to his new team. Within their first couple of games, he solidified himself as a nightly starter and arguably their most important player on the floor.

Prior to Key's arrival, the Sea Dubs had a respectable 12-10 record. A feat they achieved as a result of their offensive firepower; with streaky shooting giving them to ability to propel to victory any given night if they happened to catch fire from deep.

But a 6-1 start masked their significant issues on the other side of the ball as they proceeded to follow that up with a lackluster 6-10 stretch. Eerily similar to their NBA counterpart, Golden State, whose memorable 12-3 hot start was derailed by an abysmal 13-22 stretch before the life-saving addition of Jimmy Butler.

Santa Cruz while potent offensenviely were coming in supar in several key metrics on the defensive end; ranking 29th in the league in Defensive Rating (114.7), 31st in Steals Per Game (6.9), 31st in Points Off Turnovers (15.2), 28th in Opponent's Points In The Paint (54.8%), and 20th in Opponent Effective Field Goal Percentage (53.6%).

However, they were able to completely turn things around in what can only be rightfully dubbed as the ‘Key Era’.

Following two close losses to the Wisconsin Herd, the Sea Dubs ripped off six straight wins in a row, closing out the regular season with a healthy 8-3 record (with Key in the lineup) before a heartbreaking first-round loss in the playoffs. During that run, their defensive metrics across the board saw remarkable upticks; climbing up to 1st in DRTG (105.8), 1st in SPG (11.8), 11th in PTS OFF TO (19.1), 14th in OPP PTS PAINT (51.5), and a slight increase to 10th in OPP EFG (53.0%).

Key himself played at an MVP level, nightly stuffing the stat sheet, averaging 22.5ppg, 9.8rpg, 4.0apg, 3.4spg, 0.9bpg on 55.4% FG & 45.1% 3PT across 11 games. In only his second game with the Warriors, he came two blocks short of a coveted 5x5. He recorded a double-double with at least 25 points in half of his starts. He finished the regular season as the league leader in steals per game at 2.9spg and 13h in Defensive Win Shares at 0.157, amongst all qualified players.

Throughout both the Regular Season and the Tip-Off Tournament, Key recorded 130 steals in total. That’s the third most in G League history. Only beaten over a decade ago by Orien Greene (131) in 2009-10 and Dominique Coleman (144) in 2008-09.

Key’s play earned him the honor of G League Defensive Player of the Year. The first of his career and something he had been “wanting to get before the season,” Key punctuated, “that’s something to hang my hat on, I love to play defense.”

If you needed any more convincing of Key’s on-court impact, after departing, his former team, the San Diego Clippers, finished out the regular season with an atrocious 1-10 skid.

Their defensive metrics across the board fell off a cliff; notably DRTG from 7th (107.8) to 29th (119.1) and OPP PTS PAINT from 2nd (44.9) down to 28th (58.4).

Carving out a Role

The Warriors found their success by deploying Key almost exclusively as a center, anchoring their starting lineup next to three knockdown shooters: Blake Hinson, Jackson Rowe, and Javan Johnson, alongside a high-level playmaker, Yuri Collins.

Coach Kerr very early on said he envisioned Key’s long-term fit with the team at the 5, after years of him playing as a wing, and it’s easy to see why, given Key’s size and length, allowing him to effortlessly eat up space, especially jumping into passing lanes to create deflectioins and steals.

When I asked about the position change, Key was very open-minded:

“I played a lot of 5 with the San Diego Clippers. Played a little bit with my stop in Delaware. I’ve been playing a little bit. Just trying to think the game. I’m not as big as a normal 5, so try to use my quickness, athleticism, my smarts, just to find angles, find ways to create opportunities for myself and my team.”

Along with his defensive dominance, on the other side of the ball, Key has been a bowling ball in attacking the rim, forcing himself to the basket to get to the stripe or get an easy bucket. His 3.9 free throw attempts a game top the Warriors by a wide margin, with the next closest in fellow two-way, Jackson Rowe, coming in at 2.2 FTA.

Even the deep ball, which has not been a substantial part of his game, he has been knocking down, albeit at a low volume. Over his last 15 games, Key shot 42% from behind the three-point line on 43 attempts. Key attributed his newfound success with his shot to the belief instilled in him by the Warriors’ coaching staff, encouraging him to let it fly when open. Additionally, playing as a center has presented him with better spacing opportunities. Teams would elect to give him an open-to-lightly contested shot over rotating off of one of his teammates more lethal from long range.

While it’s unlikely Key will be able to maintain shooting at such a high clip at the NBA level, if he can at the very least knock them down at a Draymond-esque level of warranting a close-out, it adds to his value and playability as a rotation option.

Cut from the Same Cloth

Watching Key command the court in a Warriors uniform, it’s easy to close your eyes at times and picture another defensively monstrous player in his place. The Warriors themselves recognize it. Coach Nicholas Kerr noted early on that Key, “has some Draymond qualities."

When asked about the comparison, Key was humble but appreciative,

"That comparison, I mean, thats a Hall of Famer, that’s a four-time champion, that’s a DPOY. That's a lot. That's big shoes to fill,” Key admired, “but I definitely be watching him a lot. I see myself in him for sure, in just the way he plays, and obviously his selflessness. What he does for the team. Defensively, he's a beast. And just his voice. First thing I noticed. Draymond was talking during film. Saying ‘Let's do this on this play or do that on that play'. Just seeing him be vocal woke me up for sure."

As Draymond Green loudly, both on and off the court, pursues his second NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, Key quipped that he will talk a little trash to Draymond when he sees him, “we can compare our awards.”

Conveniently enough, Key’s locker is situated right next to Green’s, allowing him to easily soak up knowledge and pick the brain of a player he looks up to and hopes to emulate on his path to becoming an NBA mainstay.

The Pursuit of Beyond

The Warriors currently have one open spot left on their 15-man roster and are likely to fill it on the very last day of the season, April 13th, when it would cost them the least to do so, $45k (salary+tax).

Given that two-way players aren’t eligible for the playoffs, it would be prudent for them to enter the postseason with a full roster, similar to last season when they converted two-way player Usman Garuba, into their final roster spot.

This creates an opportunity for Braxton Key to potentially be the recipient of that honor this time around. But without having stepped on an NBA court yet this season, there is still work ahead for him.

Golden State Head Coach Steve Kerr, earlier this year in a pre-game presser, unpompted, brought up Key and said, "I think he's another guy who could step in and play some minutes for us if needed," adding that, "Braxton looks like a real NBA defender.”

That’s high praise, and while Key has only seen 8 minutes on the court across 5 games he’s been active for, at least shows that Kerr would trust him to play a role if needed in a pinch.

When I asked Key what he felt he needed to do to earn that honor, he took a very measured approach, saying, "I'm just focusing on one day at a time. In past stops, I was so focused on okay how do I play, how do I get converted, how do I this. Right now I'm just focusing on how I can maximize the most of 24 hours that I have. Whatever it is, and just go from there."

Well, it’s fair to say Braxton Key has maximized those hours and put a substantial body of work on the court to make his case worthy of a call-up. Whether that transpires now is up to the Warriors.

"If it happens, it happens."