De'Anthony Melton's first year in the Bay area hasn't gone according to plan.
A month into the NBA season, the guard's campaign is over as the Golden State Warriors announced on Wednesday he'll miss the rest of the season following ACL surgery.
Melton missed the team's last two games due to a sprained left ACL, and upon further testing, it was determined surgery was the best move forward, according to a statement from the Warriors.
The former second-round pick in 2018 joined the Warriors in the off-season after signing a one-year, $12.8 million deal. Prior to the knee injury, he had already missed five games due to a back issue.
In six appearances this season Melton averaged 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 37.1 per cent from beyond the arc. He was inserted into the Warriors' starting lineup earlier in the month, pairing the marksman alongside superstar Steph Curry, and through two starts Melton's numbers saw an uptick. In those two games, he averaged 16.5 points while shooting 50 per cent from distance.
“It’s obviously terrible news, I feel so bad for De’Anthony, he’s such a perfect fit for us and we were so excited to have him and he was clearly going to be our starter next to Steph,” head coach Steve Kerr said on Wednesday. “The good news is he's a young guy and the surgery is pretty routine these days, so he should be able to come back and resume his career really well, but I feel awful for him and bad for us, too.”
Melton was a key acquisition in the summer, namely for his shooting ability, as the Warriors moved forward following the depature of Klay Thompson. After 11 seasons in the Bay, helping Golden State win four titles, Thomspon was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in a six-team sign-and-trade deal.
Now, Lindy Waters III will likely be a regular starter in place of Melton. The Warriors will evaluate different combinations going forward to find what works.
“Fortunately we do have a deep team and guys will be ready to step up,” said Kerr, who noted he has been talking to Melton about his own career and the seventh-year guard's upcoming free agency. “There's been plenty of conversation behind the scenes. He's disappointed but he knows this is the right decision. He told me he really spent the last few days trying to wrap his head around it and think about what makes the most sense. This is the right decision, can't mess around with a partially torn ACL and think that everything's going to be fine if he just plays through it.”
The 10-3 Warriors return to action, without Melton, on Wednesday to host the Atlanta Hawks.
-- with files from the Associated Press
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