Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton will make his season debut on Thursday against one of his former teams in Philadelphia, tweets ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Melton, who has spent the fall going through the final phase of his recovery from an ACL tear, isn’t on the Warriors’ initial injury report for Thursday’s contest vs. the Sixers. He’ll be available for the first time since he suffered that knee injury on November 12, 2024, nearly 13 months ago.
After signing a one-year contract with the Warriors during the 2024 offseason, Melton appeared in just six games for Golden State before his season came to an early end. He looked like a great fit in the backcourt during that very small sample, averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals in 20.2 minutes per contest. The team had a +10.9 net rating during his 121 minutes of action.
Melton, who returned to the Warriors this fall after being traded to Brooklyn last season, also missed a significant portion of the 2023/24 season due to a back issue and has appeared in just 14 regular season and playoff games since the calendar flipped to 2024. With that in mind, it’s safe to assume head coach Steve Kerr will be conservative with the 27-year-old as he returns to the court — he figures to be on a minutes restriction for the foreseeable future.
Still, Melton’s return will be a welcome one for a Warriors team that’s missing star guard Stephen Curry due to a quad contusion. Curry may not be the only rotation player who is inactive on Thursday, as several others – including Jimmy Butler (left knee soreness), Jonathan Kuminga (right ankle soreness), and Quinten Post (left ankle sprain) – are listed as questionable to play.