De’Anthony Melton said the Warriors virtually had “three different rosters” last season due to injuries, which forced him to adapt to several different roles, Luca Evans of The San Francisco Chronicle writes in a subscriber-only story. Even though it ended in disappointment with a 37-45 record and a loss in the play-in tournament, Melton believes the experience was valuable in making him a more complete player.
He missed the early part of the season while recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in 2024 and didn’t make his debut until December. Evans states that it took Melton about a month to shake off the shooting rust, but he emerged as an effective scorer off the bench in January. Injuries to Jimmy Butler and Stephen Curry pushed him into the starting lineup as an off guard in February, and he was asked to take on more ball-handling and offensive creation duties by March.
“It was just tough,” Melton said. “Trying to figure out what we needed as a team, and then what services me best as a player, but then also having to do certain things that — I exerted a lot of energy just trying to create the offense and create advantages and stuff like that. And, also, having to go on the other end and guard the best players.”
Melton finds himself in a similar situation after re-signing with Golden State this summer. Butler is still recovering from an ACL tear and doesn’t have a definite timetable to return, the team may opt to be careful with Curry after a knee issue forced him to miss much of the second half of last season and Moses Moody is working his way back from a torn patellar tendon.
That means Melton may face another year of varying duties, but he’s ready for the challenge and hopes to become more efficient at running the offense.
“That’s something I want to do,” he said. “And you should want more of a burden on you, on your shoulders. You know what I mean? That’s how valuable you are. And it’s like, you’re capable of it, so go do it.”
There’s more on the Warriors:
Georges Niang was in training camp with the 2017/18 team that won the NBA title, but he was waived before the season began, delaying his debut with Golden State by nearly a decade. In a recent appearance on the Not Even D2 podcast (YouTube link, hat tip to The Warriors Talk), Niang, who signed a one-year deal last month, talked about how that experience shaped his career and why he decided to join the Warriors now. “I think it’s the way that they play,” he said. “… Being on the other team, I don’t think people understand how much you worry about a guy like (Steph Curry). There’s been so many times where we’ve been up 15 or 16 against the Warriors in the fourth quarter with 2 minutes to go, and we’re still like ‘All right, the game’s not over.’”
Draymond Green addresses the issue of expansion on his latest podcast (Twitter video link), saying dilution of talent is an issue for team executives and the league to worry about, but not the players. He also claims there were “13 teams tanking last year.”
Keith Smith of Spotrac examines Curry’s extension options as he considers how many more seasons he wants to commit to playing.