The Golden State Warriors have enjoyed an incredible start to their season. The news of the De’Anthony Melton injury hurt, but the team isn’t expected to sit and mourn. With Melton out for the season, many around the league are wondering if the Warriors are going to use his 12.8 million dollar expiring contract to make a trade. Melton can’t be traded until December 15th, but Warriors trade rumors have started to pick up. As a surprise contender this season, if the Warriors chose to make a Melton trade, it could have a huge impact on the Western Conference playoff picture.
Warriors Trade Rumors Ignite After Melton Injury
The Melton Injury Creates Options
When the Warriors signed Melton this offseason, the hope was that the team would be able to retain him with Bird-rights this offseason and re-sign him. Now, with the Warriors news that the Melton injury will have him out for the rest of the season, the team will have to weigh different options.
De'Anthony Melton injury update: pic.twitter.com/D9Vy3Wkx0p
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) November 21, 2024
The Warriors could apply for a Disabled Player Exception (DPE), which would be worth $6.4 million (half of Melton’s salary). The only problem is they are hard-capped at the first apron, making using the DPE very difficult. So, a Melton trade may be the best option moving forward.
Warriors Trade Rumors
Even before the season, there have been loads of Warriors trade rumors. The team supposedly went big game hunting this summer, looking for players like Paul George and Lauri Markkanen. Now that the Warriors have established that the team is quite good as is, they may be more apprehensive to shake things up in a big way. Players like Brandon Ingram or Zach LaVine are likely still available, but the Warriors didn’t move on them this summer and likely won’t move on them now.
NBA insider Brett Siegel reported that a more likely trade would be for the Warriors to bolster their front-court rotation with a trade for a big man. The Warriors haven’t played a single player bigger than 6’9” this season. To compete against teams like the Denver Nuggets, getting more size could be helpful. Two names that are linked to the Warriors as possible targets are Jonas Valanciunas and Kelly Olynyk.
Bulls offered Zach LaVine to Warriors for a trade package centered around Chris Paul and Andrew Wiggins, per @ChrisBHaynes.
The Warriors declined.
(via B/R's NBA Free Agency Show) pic.twitter.com/5XDf2pEbFs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 30, 2024
The More Likely Melton Trade Targets
Both Valanciunas and Olynyk would fit great in the Warriors offense. Their ability to shoot threes makes them playable with Draymond Green, and they both have shown themselves to be high-IQ players with some passing skills. This would be essential for fitting in the Warriors’ read-and-react, ball-movement-heavy system.
Another way the Warriors could go is grabbing another wing, replacing some of Melton’s defense and scoring abilities. The Brooklyn Nets are expected to trade multiple players before the deadline. Players like Cam Johnson, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Dorian Finney-Smith could all potentially fit with the Warriors.
Regardless of who the Warriors end up trading for, it probably won’t be a name. The Warriors are sitting pretty as the number-one seed in the West. Shaking things up mid-season is also not usually how the Warriors do things. Hopefully, the Warriors will be able to make something of Melton’s contract and can get Stephen Curry a bit more help in his pursuit of a fifth NBA championship.
