The Golden State Warriors remain in a free agency stalemate with Jonathan Kuminga deep into September, but there will be an imminent resolution on the 22-year-old's future given the October 1 qualifying offer deadline.
Focus will remain on Kuminga if/when he returns to the Warriors, yet there will also be another contract storyline to monitor as the season begins and particularly if a projected starting lineup change takes place.
De'Anthony Melton could take the starting shooting guard role
While he's not yet technically on the Golden State roster, De'Anthony Melton is already primed for a major role despite coming off a torn ACL sustained in just his sixth game for the franchise in November last year.
While there's always been a thought that Melton could take the starting shooting guard spot from Brandin Podziemski at some point this season, that may actually happen sooner rather than later according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“If Melton is cleared, and from what I understand, he has been working out at Chase, the word I was given by somebody who’s seen him is that he’s progressing well, but they don’t know when he’ll be fully cleared," Poole said on the Dubs Talk podcast. “To me, if Melton is fully cleared, that means he’s able to do the things they need him to do. And if he’s able to do that, he should be the starter.”
Melton was excellent in his two games next to Stephen Curry in the back court early last season, playing a significant role in impressive back-to-back wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.
But at the same time so too did Podziemski play well when he worked his way into being a guaranteed starter after the All-Star break, having shot nearly 44% from 3-point range across 22 games as the Warriors surged into the playoffs.
Moving Melton into the starting lineup in place of Podziemski is not only going to be a big call for the fortunes of Golden State's season, but it's also going to be a fascinating storyline to follow based on what could happen next summer.
Melton will presumably hit unrestricted free agency again where, if he plays well enough and has a consistent starting role, he could rehabilitate his value to the point where the Warriors are unable to retain him -- similar to what happened with Donte DiVincenzo in 2023.
Meanwhile Podziemski will be extension eligible next offseason where based on his first two years, he could be searching for something north of $18-20 million annually. Asking for that kind of money suddenly becomes far more difficult if he's lost his starting role and is coming off the bench.
The positional battle between Podziemski and Melton is set to be one of the most interesting within the franchise as the season progresses, particularly when it could have such major financial implications on both players and what the Warriors decide to do in the long-term.