Why Kerr is excited about Melton’s fit with Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The Warriors might not have made a big splash this offseason but did acquire a handful of veteran players who should improve the roster for the 2024-25 NBA season.
One of whom was 26-year-old guard De’Anthony Melton, who signed a one-year, $12.8 million contract with Golden State in free agency.
Across six seasons with the Phoenix Suns, Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers, the former second-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft averaged 9.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game on 41-percent shooting from the field and 36.9 percent from 3-point range.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr joined The San Francisco Standard’s Tim Kawakami on the latest episode of “The TK Show” where he expressed his excitement for what Melton brings to the rotation.
“He’s a two-way player, which I love the ability to connect multiple lineups,” Kerr said. “I think he brings that. He’s a catch-and-shoot guy, so just watching him scrimmage this past week at Chase, our guys are playing pickup ball as they get ready for camp. I watched him knock down four straight threes in a scrimmage. But they were catch-and-shoot. No catch-and-hold. The game keeps going when he’s out there.
“I saw him set a split screen and slip to the rim and get a layup off a pass from Kyle Anderson. We haven’t even worked on that yet but these guys know how we play, have a good feel for the game. So I think both De’Anthony and Kyle are going to be really good fits and I’m excited about them.”
While Klay Thompson’s offseason departure to the Dallas Mavericks leaves behind a large hole in Golden State’s starting lineup, Kerr and the Warriors should have the supplemental pieces to overcome the loss and potentially even improve this upcoming season.
“I think the exciting thing about this training camp is that I can legitimately tell the guys that spots are available and mean it,” Kerr shared.
While Melton and Anderson do not project to be starters, they should provide Kerr and the Warriors with much-needed veteran stability off the bench this season.
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