Takeaways from Warriors' Win Over Hornets: Melton Is Worth 10 Times His Salary

Without Jimmy Butler, the Golden State Warriors (24-19) beat the Charlotte Hornets (15-27) 136-116 on Saturday at Chase Center.

Butler was a late scratch for personal reasons, but the Warriors offense was unstoppable anyway, shooting 55 percent and making 23 threes.

Eight players scored in double figures, including Stephen Curry (14 points and five assists) and Draymond Green (20 points and six assists).

Here are three takeaways from Saturday's game.

Melton Is Worth About 10 Times His Salary

De'Anthony Melton is making $3.1 million. The way he's playing, he's worth about $30 million.

Melton had 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal. The way he's getting his points—taking defenders one-on-one off the dribble for points in the paint—is extra valuable on a team that has only two other players who do that.

Melton is also one of the Warriors' best defensive players. At the end of the third quarter, he picked LaMelo Ball's pocket, leading to two free throws.

Entering Saturday, Melton had a team-leading plus-19.4 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass. That net rating ranks in 99th percentile among all players.

Though Melton is not supposed to be a lead offensive hub, he even did that well Saturday with Butler absent.

Melton is just about guaranteed to decline his player option next season. He'll make a ton more money—probably more than the Warriors can realistically pay him.

It's one of many reasons that the Warriors should be all-in this season. It's probably the last year they can realistically contend considering the ages of Curry, Butler and Green.

And it dovetails right into the next takeaway.

Warriors Need a Consolidating Trade

Melton, Will Richard, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody are all 2-guards. They all played well Saturday.

But in a playoff series, the Warriors can't realistically play all of them big minutes.

That's why they need a consolidating trade.

If the Warriors were to acquire Michael Porter Jr. and have a lineup of Curry, Melton, Butler, Porter and Green, they could do serious damage in the playoffs.

Sure, that trade would probably cost them Moody. But even after trading Moody, they'd have Melton, Richard and Podz. In summary, they wouldn't miss Moody much, but their offense would be totally supercharged with Porter.

Defenders Have to Start Respecting Green's Shot

Green is 13-of-32 from three on the homestand. That's 40.6 percent.

You wouldn't know it from how the Hornets guarded him.

They essentially left him wide open all game while faceguarding Stephen Curry 40 feet from the basket.

It's a strategy that has its merits when Green is struggling. But right now he is hot.

Green finished 4-of-8 from downtown Saturday, and it felt like all of them halted momentum for Charlotte.

Once teams start consistently guarding Green from the perimeter, that should open up some of the Curry backdoor cuts and other Warriors offensive actions.