Former 76ers Guard Could See Major Promotion With Warriors

De'Anthony Melton left Steve Kerr impressed recently.

Oct 23, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Golden State Warriors shooting guard De'Anthony Melton (8) is pictured against the Portland Trailblazers at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images / Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

After moving on from the Philadelphia 76ers, De’Anthony Melton signed a prove-it deal with the Golden State Warriors for the 2024-2025 NBA season. Melton’s decision to move out West came after a season that was filled with unfortunate injury luck as he battled through a back injury for a large part of the year.

Golden State was a fresh start for the veteran guard, but those similar back issues came back to haunt him after three games.

Coming off the bench for roughly 17 minutes per game, Melton was producing six points and three assists on 35 percent shooting from the field through his first few games of action with the Warriors.

Once he started dealing with back concerns, he went on to miss five games in a row.

On Friday night, Melton returned to the court for the Warriors in their 19-point loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. He came off the bench for 18 minutes, scoring ten points and dishing out three assists. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr liked what he saw out of Melton and elevated him to the starting lineup for Golden State’s Sunday night game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

De’Anthony Melton making his starting debut for the Warriors tonight in OKC.

Full lineup

Steph Curry
De’Anthony Melton
Andrew Wiggins
Draymond Green
Trayce Jackson-Davis

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 10, 2024

Melton collected a season-high 27 minutes of playing time as a member of the Warriors’ starting unit. With more playing time came more opportunities to let shots fly.

The former Sixers guard attempted 11 shots from the field. Eight of his shots came from three. He knocked down five of them, coming second to Steph Curry, who led the Warriors with seven made three-pointers on the night.

Melton finished the game with a season-high 19 points. He helped the Warriors secure a critical win over the thriving Oklahoma City Thunder.

As a result of Melton’s contributions as a starter, he not only received praise from Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, but he could keep his promotion long-term.

De'Anthony Melton had 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and shot 5-for-8 from 3. Steve Kerr said after the game that Melton in the starting lineup is what he wants to see moving forward and that he likes how Melton fits in with that group.

— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) November 11, 2024

With the Sixers, Melton was a starter for most of his appearances throughout his two-year run. The veteran guard was an offseason acquisition from the Memphis Grizzlies, where he mostly spent his playing time coming off the bench throughout a three-season run.

Across two seasons with the Sixers, Melton started 91 games. He had 115 total appearances. During that time, the veteran proved to be a valuable two-way player when healthy. On offense, Melton averaged ten points and three assists per game. From three, he knocked down 38 percent of his shots on five attempts per game.

Defensively, Melton averaged nearly two steals per game. He also came down with four total rebounds per outing.