What De’Anthony Melton’s season-ending surgery means for the Warriors

De’Anthony Melton wasn’t wearing a brace or a wrap of ice on his left knee as he sat at his locker on Wednesday night. To the naked eye, he didn’t look like a player about to undergo season-ending surgery.

But Melton had spent the past week working to strengthen his sprained knee and the muscles around it. He spent it getting three opinions from doctors about the best course of action, hoping to return to the court.

Ultimately, Melton and the Warriors decided that surgery on his sprained ACL — a routine procedure with today’s modern medicine — would protect him against future re-injury.

“It still doesn’t feel real,” Melton said.

Unfortunately for Melton and unfortunately for the Warriors, it is real.

Melton played six games as a Warrior and will hit free agency next summer during his recovery from surgery. How the Warriors (11-3) respond to his absence in the interim could determine whether they carry the momentum from their hot start to the season.

What’s next for Melton?

Melton is scheduled to undergo surgery on Dec. 3, he said. After that, he plans on rehabbing with the team in the Bay Area.

The latter detail is a nice bonus for Golden State’s locker room, which has embraced Melton. The veteran sits with Draymond Green, Steph Curry and Kyle Anderson on team planes and his upbeat personality has vibed with the team.

Melton sticking around is a nice benefit for the Warriors in a seriously unfortunate situation.

Golden State signed Melton to a one-year, $12.8 million deal this past summer, meaning he’ll be a free agent again after the season ends. Most players in the modern era recover fully from ACL surgeries, so Melton will likely have plenty of suitors in free agency — at least for another short-term deal.

Financial ramifications

The Warriors plan to apply for a disabled players exception, per The Athletic, which would be worth $6.4 million. The idea for that rule is to insulate teams from early season-ending injuries, giving them some spending power to respond.

But Golden State would need to work to even put the exception to use.

Because the Warriors are less than $1 million from the first apron, and they’re hard-capped at that threshold, they won’t be able to spend the cash intended for a Melton replacement. They’d need to offload salary via trades to have the option of using the DPE.

So in the immediate term and likely the foreseeable future, the Melton replacements will have to come from within the team.

It’s also possible the Warriors could use Melton’s expiring contract in a trade.

Starting group

Melton had earned the starting shooting guard role, complementing Steph Curry as a two-way player. The Warriors were eager to ride the five-man group out. The five-man unit of Melton, Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis outscored opponents by 22.4 points per 100 possessions.

“He’s such a perfect fit for us and we were so excited to have him,” Steve Kerr said.

The injury puts Golden State back at square one.

The Warriors are still committed to starting Jackson-Davis next to Green in the frontcourt, which limits their options at shooting guard. A 3-point shooter is practically a prerequisite, and the Warriors have leaned toward defense with most of their lineup choices.

Kerr has gone with Lindy Waters III for the past three games, and the 27-year-old has largely played well. Against the Hawks on Wednesday night, Waters gave Trae Young a hard time defensively and registered 10 points in 23 minutes.

The Warriors like Waters’ fit in the starting lineup because of his feel for the game, outside shooting and competitiveness defensively and on the boards.

“He knows how to play,” Draymond Green said. “You come from an organization like OKC, you can immediately see it in training camp. Just always knowing where to be, defensive rotations and assignments, knows how to get into space.”

Waters played 23 minutes in Wednesday night’s win. The only potential issue that could crop up with starting him is the appearance of giving more opportunities to someone they might not be invested in long-term instead of players like Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga or Brandin Podziemski.

But as long as the starting five works and as long as the Warriors keep winning, that can’t be a priority.

There’s an even brighter spotlight on Brandin Podziemski

When asked about Podziemski’s struggles this season, Draymond Green said that it’s the media’s fault before embarking on a five-minute soliloquy about pressure.

“It’s hard having a great rookie season and then coming back and having the second year as good or better,” Green said. “It’s tough. That’s why you’ve always heard the sophomore slump. It’s a very tough thing to do. And I think for him, he’s just put so much pressure on himself for the player that he wants to be and that he thinks he should be. And it’s unnecessary.”

If pressure makes diamonds, Podziemski is having a hard time showing it.

Headlines surrounded Podziemski this summer, partly due to trade rumors but also because Joe Lacob said he believes he could be an All-Star. The result has been striking so far: Podziemski has been visibly frustrated after missed shots on the court.

Podziemski has started 10-for-48 (20.8%) from 3-point land and is shooting 60% from the free-throw line. After being a first-team All-Rookie selection last year, all of his numbers are down.

To his credit, Podziemski hasn’t let the shooting struggles affect the rest of his game. He’s still a menace on defense, a fast-break initiator and a smart passer. He’s still a member of many of Golden State’s most productive lineups. And as his shot has evaded him, he’s worked tirelessly on rediscovering it.

“What he’s special at is doing all the other things on the floor,” Green said. “… If you don’t have to have that pressure, and I say that from experience, don’t put that pressure on yourself. Because it’s hard to live night in and night out to live based on whether you make shots or not.”

Podziemski also has dealtwith a broken nose from the preseason, a mysterious illness that caused him to miss a game with dizziness (the team hasn’t figured out a diagnosis), and was hit in the face on Wednesday (x-rays on his nose came back negative).

All of Green’s reasons why Podziemski should give himself a bit of a break are the same reasons the Warriors need him to step up.

After Melton, Podziemski is the Warriors’ best candidate to be a true two-way guard. One of the reasons Melton was so valuable was because he could play with anyone, unlocking different combinations. Podziemski can do the same .

But it’s tough to do that when you’re not making any shots.

The Warriors believe in Podziemski in the present and the future. Whether he rejoins the starting lineup like he did last season or stays as the lead playmaker on the second unit, the Warriors need him to play with the type of swagger he did last year. The jumper will fall if he does.