Since their season ended, the vast majority of the conversations surrounding the Golden State Warriors have centered on the future of franchise cornerstones Steve Kerr and Draymond Green, as both guys face an uncertain future with the franchise.
But, they aren’t the only ones. The Warriors have several other players facing uncertain futures due to free agency or contract options. One of those players is De’Anthony Melton.
De’Anthony Melton Would Like to Continue his Career with the Warriors
Melton has a $3.45 million player option on his contract for next season and while he’s in no rush when it comes to making a decision, Melton made it clear that he would ideally like to continue his career with the Warriors.
“Most definitely. I would love to come back,” Melton said of Golden State. “I kind of leave that type of stuff up to my agent and upstairs, but I would love to.”
Melton plans to let the dust settle on the season a little bit before rushing to make any major decisions regarding his future one way or another.
“That’s why also you’ve got to give yourself time to kind of decompress and see everything that’s going on,” Melton said. “Kind of let the dust settle. I think that type of stuff is what I’m going to worry about next week and stuff like that, and get with my agent and let Mike [Dunleavy] and Steve [Kerr] and Rick [Celebrini] decide what they have going on as well, too.”
Steve Kerr’s Decision Could Impact Melton’s Future with the Warriors
Ultimately, Kerr’s decision regarding his own future with the franchise could have a major impact on Melton’s own decision. Melton thoroughly enjoyed playing for the veteran coach for the past two seasons, but it remains to be seen if Kerr will be back on the sideline for the Warriors next season as his contract has expired.
“Whenever he makes his decision, I know he should take his time and figure it out. But I think after that, you’ve kind of got to let the dominoes fall just to let everybody see what’s going on, whatever his decision is, and give that a little bit of time just to see where we go next, too,” Melton said of Kerr.
Melton averaged a career-high 12.3 points per game for the Warriors this past season and he also tied his career-high with 1.6 steals per performance. Players are judged on counting stats when it comes time to put pen to paper on a contract, but Melton thinks he brings things to the table that don’t necessarily show up in the box score.
“Not necessarily, because I think sometimes I kind of do stuff that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” Melton said. “I also think I didn’t shoot the ball as well as I wanted to this year. But I think I know and we know that I’m a great shooter. That type of stuff, you never really know. But I think I still just do stuff that doesn’t really show up on the stat sheet.”
Obviously it’s not the most pressing decision currently looming over the Warriors, but it will still be interesting to see what the future holds for Melton.
De’Anthony Melton Sends Clear Message Regarding Future with Warriors