Why losing Melton deals a huge blow to Warriors’ hopes originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO – After renovating their roster last summer, the Warriors were pleased with their work. They hadn’t brought in an All-Star to fill the void left by Klay Thompson’s departure, so they would do so through committee.
It wasn’t until the tenth game of the 2024-2025 NBA season, De’Anthony Melton’s first as a starter, that coach Steve Kerr and his staff did everything coach Steve Kerr and his staff hoped for: a solid starting lineup, stability with rotations, the whole vision for the selection. in place.
Of the three veterans acquired this offseason, Melton would be the only one to crack the starting lineup. And he played alongside Stephen Curry in the backcourt.
That only lasted two games. Melton suffered a sprained left ACL on Nov. 12 against the Dallas Mavericks, and the Warriors announced Wednesday that he will undergo surgery and miss the remainder of the season.
Golden State’s best found plan was torched before the season was a month old.
“I feel so bad for De’Anthony,” Kerr said Wednesday, two hours before tipoff against the Atlanta Hawks. “He is a perfect fit for us and we were so excited to have him. He was clearly going to be our starter next to Steph.”
With Melton out, Lindy Waters III, acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City in June, will join Curry in the starting lineup. For now.
“I liked Lindy in the starting lineup recently,” Kerr said of Waters, who had six points, five rebounds and three steals in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. ‘He started last [two]. He will start tonight. Lindy is a very good player, a very good two-way player. He’s filling that role well, so we’ll keep starting him and see how it goes.”
Waters isn’t quite the bulldog defenseman Melton is, but he is a bit slimmer (6-foot-6) and a natural three-point shooter. This is not necessarily permanent. Other possible options to play alongside Curry include Moses Moody, who brings a similar skill set to Waters but has a clear role in the second unit, and Brandin Podziemski, who anchors the second unit.
“BP is another good option and could end up there depending on how things go,” Kerr said. “But I like that Lindy shoots off the ball, fitting in with that first group. We play two greats [Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson]so you want to shoot as much as possible. And he guards the ball very well. He’s just looking forward to it.
“But BP could also fulfill that role well.”
But make no mistake: this is an absolute Plan B action out of necessity. It changes the lineup, which changes the rotations, which affects the overall roster usage. There could be a Plan C, D or E.
A Curry-Melton backcourt was visualized as early as June, before he signed a one-year, $12.8 contract on July 8. On-ball defense was a weakness for the Warriors last season, and it contributed greatly to them finishing with the 15th-ranked defense in the league.
No one on the free-agent market has handled that better than Melton, who was high on the list of reasons the Warriors rose to fourth in defensive rating.
The Warriors must now look for new combinations that can deliver what they expected before Melton went down.
“You want to stack as many two-way players as possible in this league, and they’re not easy to find,” Kerr said. “Luckily we have a close-knit team. Guys will be ready to take it a step further. We just have to keep looking at different combinations and put the best ones on the floor.”
Kerr added that contact has been made with Melton’s agent about his free agency next summer, and he is hopeful of the guard’s return to the Warriors.
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