How Warriors will approach the trade deadline after hot start, Melton news originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
With Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton set to undergo season-ending ACL surgery, Golden State faces uncertainty as it looks to build on a torrid start to the 2024-2025 NBA season.
But Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy is confident a next-man-up mentality will keep the 10-3 team rolling after some key offseason additions — though he didn’t seem like a possible move to be ruled out as the NBA trade deadline of February 5. approaches.
“I think it’s our thing with Steph [Curry] and Draymond [Green] is that you always want to surround them with the right players, and you want the best, most talented players to do that with,” Dunleavy told Bonta Hill, Festus Ezeli and Chris Mullin on “Warriors Pregame Live” on Wednesday. “You’re going looking at all the different options. You’re going to call up teams, you’re going to pursue these players, but you’re not always going to be able to acquire them through trade, so you have to look at other avenues.
“And I think we feel really good about the team that we’ve put together through free will, and then really growing from within. You talk about our young players growing. You talk about some of our middle-aged vets, the [Andrew] Wiggins, de [Kevon] Looneys, the [Gary] Paytons — those guys are back and playing as well as they ever have.
“So that’s how you get to a point where you can get off to a 10-3 start and feel good about your team. We’ll see where it goes, but I think the plan is working. And maybe we still have that. ” some work to do.”
Even though the Warriors lost big players like Lauri Markkanen and Paul George this season, Dunleavy was able to acquire pieces in free agency that have helped Golden State jump out of the gate with a winning record and current first place in the league. Western Conference.
And while Melton was one of those key additions — especially after securing a spot in coach Steve Kerr’s starting rotation — Dunleavy is confident the Warriors’ other offseason signings will continue to deliver in his “unfortunate” absence .
“I think [Melton] really started to fit in well, and [that’s] You know, a big reason why we went after him this summer is because of the way we feel he can play offense and defense, so it’s a big loss for us,” Dunleavy said. “But like you said, we have good depth and the next guy will step up, and we’ll go from there.”
Melton had secured a spot in coach Steve Kerr’s starting rotation before going down on Nov. 12 with a sprained left ACL, for which the Warriors announced Wednesday he will require season-ending surgery. Now other additions like Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and Lindy Waters, as well as the rest of Golden State, will have to step up.
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