Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made it clear throughout the first week of training camp that only two spots in the starting lineup were cemented: Stephen Curry in the backcourt and Draymond Green in the frontcourt. As for the other three, they were up for grabs. At least until recently.
On Monday at Chase Center, Kerr revealed that, given the situation surrounding Kristaps Porzingis' health, he plans on deploying his small-ball lineup of Curry, newly extended Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Green on opening night against the Los Angeles Lakers in about a week.
The news settled a few "camp battles." Al Horford should be coming off the bench so the coaching staff can manage his limited minutes more easily. Bringing in the 40-year-old veteran as a reserve also allows Kerr to always have either Green or Horford on the floor to anchor the defense. Santos emerged as the beneficiary of that decision, while Podziemski got the edge over swingman De'Anthony Melton, who started 24 of 49 regular-season games last season. Having his name featured in the starting five has never been a goal of Melton's.
"We got such a deep team, it's just about collecting wins and adding them up," Melton told reporters in Hawaii when asked whether starting meant something to him. "For me, it doesn't really matter. I just want to collect as many wins as possible."
For the first time in a while, Melton is expected to begin the regular season with no physical restrictions after dealing with back, knee and thumb injuries over the last three seasons. He mentioned in his media day press conference his desire to play on both ends of back-to-backs, something he's been able to do just seven times over his past three injury-riddled campaigns.
Entering the first year of a two-year contract worth $12.4 million he signed during the summer, Melton has gotten off to a sluggish start offensively. Across his three preseason games, he's gone just 3-for-17 from the field and 1-for-7 from three. No need to panic, though. Because a) the regular season doesn't tip off for another week, and b) his fit with this team remains a no-brainer.
Melton’s versatility still gives the Warriors plenty of options
Efficient shooting has never been the reason Melton managed to make a name for himself in this league. Throughout his eight-season career, his shooting splits have constantly hovered between 38% and 43% from the field and in the mid-to-high 30s from three. But his numbers last season looked notably poor at just 40.7% from the field and a meager 29.4% from beyond the arc — his worst mark since his second season in the league.
Some of that inefficient production can be attributed to the two thumb injuries Melton played through. In addition to putting up with a torn ligament in his right thumb for the entire season, the 28-year-old also tore a ligament in his left thumb around the mid-to-late part of the schedule. Melton admitted that the ailments considerably affected his ability to shoot the ball and the way he could grab it. However, because he was still able to guard and pass the ball, he decided to gut it out before eventually getting surgery on both thumbs during the offseason.
His banged-up thumbs and the additional responsibility he was charged with following Butler and Curry's injuries in January led to a lot of sloppiness in his game. When Curry went down in late January with a runner's knee injury that would ultimately cost him two months of competition, Melton was thrust into the starting lineup and given the ball. In a role that isn't his, Melton understandably struggled.
From the start of February until the Warriors' season ended in April, Melton shot just 39.1% from the field and 28.9% from three, and turned the ball over 2.2 times per game on average. Those last few months as one of the initiators of the offense led to Melton posting the highest usage rate of his career (24.4%), but also the worst turnover rate (26%) and assists-to-turnover ratio (1.37).
In the appropriate role, Melton has been an obvious fit within the Warriors' system since he joined the franchise as a free agent in the summer of 2024, mainly because he can wear many hats. The six games he played in his first season in the Bay were enough to entice both the organization and its fans. The way he complemented Curry was a major factor behind that widespread approval.
After recovering from an ACL injury that kept him off the court for almost the entirer 2024-25 season, Melton returned to Golden State last summer as a free agent. He was back on the floor in early December, and the general feeling around his fit had remained the same. Melton can do it all: defend at the point of attack, disrupt passing lanes with his 6-foot-9 wingspan, handle the ball, catch and shoot, attack the rim, and create for himself and others. He can plug any holes.
Steph summed it up best by calling him a "prototypical shooting guard." In the 250 minutes the Curry-Melton duo shared the court, the team posted a +9 net rating. With Podziemski alongside Melton in the backcourt: a +7.8 mark in 657 minutes. No matter who you slot next to him, they're going to be productive and impact winning. He posted the second-highest net rating on the team last season at +3.9, trailing only Jimmy Butler.
Starting the game on the bench won't prevent Melton from operating with Curry. Despite only one of his 24 starts coming alongside Steph, Melton still spent over 45% of his minutes with him in the backcourt in the 25 games they played together. As with basically every player, Curry's sole presence made Melton better.
When paired with Curry (25 games last season), Melton's shot efficiency was closer to his career standard at 43.5% from the field and 32.7% from three. Without Curry (24 games), though, those numbers crumbled to 38.5% and 25.6%, while his increased on-ball time without the Chef resulted in Melton committing almost one additional turnover per game.
Curry is now back from his runner's knee injury and feels healthy. So does Melton. The Warriors don't expect him to be a sharpshooter, as his perimeter defense bears more value than his shot-making ability. Most of the time, he'll be surrounded by elite bucket getters in Curry or former high school teammate Brandon Williams. On the flip side, Melton being a factor offensively — meaning at least shooting according to his relatively low career standards — will be paramount to this team's sucsess this season.
As Kerr put it best: they need everybody.
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