Steve Kerr Reveals Great De'Anthony Melton News After Devastating Jazz Loss

After the Golden State Warriors' 119-116 loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday, Steve Kerr said that De'Anthony Melton will play Tuesday's game against the Chicago Bulls.

Melton, who played 20 minutes against Utah, will be playing in both legs of a back-to-back for the first time this season.

Melton suffered a torn ACL in December 2024, and he made his return to the court 12 months later in December 2025.

He's missed just seven games since his 2025-26 season debut, and all but one of them were either the front leg or the back leg of a back-to-back.

Melton previously had a minutes restriction of 25 minutes, but since Feb. 24 he's played at least 27 minutes in three games, topping out at 29:57.

In hindsight, you have to wonder if Kerr regrets not playing Melton more on Monday. Melton had 22 points in 20 minutes. Perhaps the Warriors would have won the game had Melton played 25-plus minutes.

Instead, Melton was played less seemingly to be preserved for Tuesday's game, when the Warriors expect to also have Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis active.

Melton Contract Situation Looming

I'll speak for the Warriors and say the obvious: The Dubs want Melton back next season.

He leads the team in net rating by a mile, per Cleaning the Glass. He's proved adept at playing with Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler, and he's performed well when taking on more responsibility when they've been out.

Overall, he's averaging a career-high 12.7 points per game, and though he hasn't scored efficiently (41.3 percent from the field), his on-ball defense continues to be a big strength.

Melton has a player option for just $3.5 million next season. He will decline that and become a free agent, and it's likely he'll be seeking the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $15.1 million.

The Warriors might be willing to offer that to him, but doing so would hard-cap them at the first apron, which could make it more difficult for them to keep Kristaps Porzingis and other free agents.

Perhaps more importantly, using the NTMLE on Melton would give the Warriors essentially no way to land LeBron James, and the first-apron hard-cap could complicate their pursuit of big-name stars like Giannis.

I don't think there's any question that he's worth $15.1 million. But that doesn't mean he's guaranteed to get it from the Warriors or another team, as most teams won't have much cap flexibility this offseason.