Warriors Re-Sign Key Free Agent without Using Money Earmarked for LeBron

The Golden State Warriors have re-signed guard De'Anthony Melton to a two-year, $11 million deal with a player option in the second season, per ESPN's Shams Charania.

Per cap analyst Yossi Gozlan, the Warriors likely used the bi-annual exception to sign Melton. They can still use the entire non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $15 million on LeBron James.

The move hard-caps the Warriors at the $209 million first apron. Using any part of the NTMLE would have done that anyway, so the Melton deal doesn't add any restrictions for the Warriors' James push.

But it does make fitting James' contract and Draymond Green's new contract under the apron more challenging.

How Warriors Can Still Afford James and Green After Melton Signing

As I wrote here, the Warriors will likely salary-dump Moses Moody to have enough money to pay Green a decent salary after giving James his contract.

In that article, I wrote that the Warriors could offer Green a contract with a starting salary of about $20 million after trading Moody.

With Melton's contract, Green's highest possible 2026-27 salary would be about $17 million after trading Moody.

My guess is the Warriors have a Moody trade partner lined up in case James says he's signing with them.

There are seven teams with trade exceptions that could absorb Moody's contract, and five of them are not in an immediate-contention window. All of them might view trading for an injured 24-year-old wing as a buy-low opportunity for a long-term contributor.

Melton Fills Big Need

The Warriors' two best on-ball defenders last season were Melton and Moody. Had they lost Melton to free agency, they would have risked going into the season without any healthy player on the roster capable of defending the best ball-handlers in the league.

Melton's Defensive EPM ranked in the 85th percentile last season, per Dunks and Threes.

And though Melton struggled offensively, shooting just 29.4 percent from three, good things tended to happen when he was on the floor.

Melton had a plus-7.5 net rating in 2025-26, per Cleaning the Glass. His impact on the team's offensive rating was actually better than his team's impact on the defensive rating.

That Melton had to settle for this contract reflects how nervous teams are about his shooting.

If his three-point percentage returns to something close to what it was from 2021 to 2025 (38.3 percent), he'll be a steal at this price.

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