De'Anthony Melton reportedly agreed to a two-year, $11 million contract to return to the Golden State Warriors, but the recently signed deal now looks slightly worse after it was revealed the franchise gave the veteran guard the full taxpayer mid-level exception.
According to Spotrac's Keith Smith on Tuesday, Melton has signed a two-year, $12.5 million contract with a player option for the second season as the Warriors sit close to the second apron with two roster spots available to fill.
De'Anthony Melton deal looks slightly worse after final details revealed
Golden State were looking at signing Melton to the bi-annual exception if they were succesful in their pursuit of LeBron James, which is why there was nearly a month between the reported deal and the official signing in recent days. The 28-year-old had previously opted out of his $3.5 million player option to test free agency, leading to an ultimately wrong assumption that he was set to leave the Warriors.
The slight pay increase doesn't make much difference to Golden State who were going to be hard-capped at the second apron anyway, while they still have room to sign two players to veteran minimum contracts to fill out the roster.
It does mean he'll make ever so slightly more than Anfernee Simons who the Warriors were reportedly interested in, only to go with Melton who they believe -- and the numbers will prove -- is an excellent fit playing alongside Stephen Curry and/or Jimmy Butler. Simons wound up signing a two-year, $12.3 million deal with the Philadelphia 76ers that also comes with a second year player option.
De'Anthony Melton's contract with the Warriors came in higher than was reported. Melton got the full Taxpayer MLE from GSW:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 5, 2026
2026-27: $6.064M
2027-28: $6.4M
2027-28 is a player option for Melton. GSW is hard-capped at the second apron by using the Taxpayer MLE. They have about…
The decision to go with Melton rather than show stronger interest and potentially acquire Simons has caused some controversy within the fanbase, particularly with Butler sidelined by injury for at least the first half of next season.
De'Anthony Melton contract could still prove incredibly team-friendly
While it may look slightly worse than originally reported, there's still a chance that Melton's new deal will be incredibly team-friendly if Curry can remain available and allow his fellow guard to fill a more complementary role.
Melton struggled to scale up into a bigger role when Curry and Butler were sidelined by injury toward the end of last season, culminating in shooting just 40.7% from the floor and 29.4% from 3-point range in his 49 appearances.
But in the right role and with more continuity after only just returning from a torn ACL in December, Melton could easily play at double his current value. He'll be hoping to do so with the idea of opting out of his player option and making more in free agency again next year.
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