The Warriors are signing free-agent guard De’Anthony Melton to a one-year, $12.8M contract, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observes, Golden State can complete the deal by using either the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or via sign-and-trade. Either scenario will hard-cap the Warriors at the first apron, which is set at $178.1M in 2024-25.
$12,822,000 is the full value of the non-taxpayer MLE for next season.
According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic, the Warriors have long been fans of Melton and believed he wasn’t optimally utilized when they faced Memphis in the playoffs a couple of years ago.
A 6-foot-2 combo guard, Melton earned $8M last season in the final campaign of a four-year, $35M contract that declined over time. He’ll earn a raise next season with Golden State and an opportunity to boost his value ahead of 2025 free agency if he performs well with the Warriors.
Melton has been a valuable role player over the past four seasons, averaging 10.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.5 SPG while shooting 38.3 percent from three-point range in 240 regular-season games over that span (24.5 MPG).
The primary reason the 26-year-old only received a one-year deal is he was limited to just 38 games last season with the Sixers due to a back injury, making the signing somewhat risky for Golden State.
Still, if Melton is healthy, he could provide an infusion of youth, defense and athleticism to the Warriors. And his salary is large enough that even though they’ll only have his non-Bird rights a year from now, they could still make him a competitive offer in 2025 free agency, assuming things go well for both sides.
The 46th pick of the 2018 draft, Melton has played for Phoenix, Memphis and Philadelphia throughout his six NBA seasons.
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