After completing further testing on his injured left ACL, the Warriors have determined that guard De’Anthony Melton will require season-ending surgery, the team has announced (Twitter link).
The ailment had previously been diagnosed as a sprain, though the fact that it requires surgical treatment suggests it may be more significant.
Melton signed a one-year contract worth the Warriors’ full $12.8MM mid-level exception this past offseason. He will be a free agent again in the summer of 2025, having played all of six games for a surging Golden State squad.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link) notes, Golden State can file a disabled player exception, which would be worth half of Melton’s salary (approximately $6.4MM). But because the Warriors are just $534K below their hard cap at the first tax apron, they would need to make another move to actually use a potential DPE.
The 6’2″ USC alum could potentially also be used as an expiring matching contract on the trade market, should the Warriors look to acquire a win-now roster addition to capitalize on their strong start to the season.
Melton averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20.2 minutes per game across those six matchups, posting a shooting line of .407/.371/.625.
At 10-3, the Warriors are currently the No. 1 seed in a crowded Western Conference. Melton, when healthy, had served as a core component of that early success. As The Athletic’s Anthony Slater notes (via Twitter), Golden State head coach Steve Kerr had anointed Melton as his preferred starting shooting guard next to All-NBA point guard Stephen Curry.
Lindy Waters III earned the starting two guard nod in Golden State’s most recent game, a 102-99 loss to the Clippers. Kerr could also explore elevating another recent free agent acquisition, microwave scorer Buddy Hield, or 2024 All-Rookie guard Brandin Podziemski.