REPORT: The Warriors LIKELY To Sign DeAnthony Melton AND Al Horford!

REPORT: The Warriors LIKELY To Sign DeAnthony Melton AND Al Horford!

Recent news around the NBA is suggesting that Golden State is positioned to get not one but two of the top free agents on the market this off season. We’re going to cover that here today in this video and what they can provide to this team mostly centered around Melton of course as uh he’s the most recent guy. We’ve been talking about Horford for what feels like an eternity at this point and that’s mostly been a foregone conclusion. But yes, it does look like Golden State will be positioned well to get the Anthony Melton and we’re going to elaborate in today’s video. Make sure you hit that thumbs up and subscribe here to the Basketball Bulletin where Travel Lane and I keep you guys informed and locked in with all the news and rumors around the NBA as it comes out. Let me know in the comments section down below how you feel about this as well. And uh if you’re a Lakers fan, don’t worry. This is a safe space. Let it out cuz uh he was somebody that, you know, the funny thing about Melt is that he was linked to the Lakers heavily for quite a while and now it seems like he’s not. It seems like he’s maybe positioned to go again to Golden State and also for the second time with that. But also, it seems like the Lakers are in a weird spot because they don’t really have options right now. They need to make like a consolidation trade. They need to clear up space and the ability to use the full bianual like all this other stuff that’s kind of going on. So, if you’re a fan of that, you know, that’s the only reason I’m bringing it up is because again, he had been largely linked to the Lakers up to this point. But the Warriors have emerged as a strong contender to bring back the Anthony Melton in free agency. League sources tell the Stein line. In addition to Golden State’s well- chronicled interest in signing Al Horford, uh Mark Stein, great NBA reporter, if you’re not following him or his Substack, make sure you’re doing so because he he does a great job. Him and Jake Fischer, but he had actually a couple of days ago he said, and I quote, that Horford was destined to be a Golden State Warrior. It’s like I don’t know what’s holding it up. Maybe it’s the Kaminga trade. Uh there was some reports, we did a video on it, that there was like a potential three-team trade in the works between them, Sacramento, and Detroit, I believe, were the three teams. And I didn’t really love the reported return for Golden State. But at the same time, it is what it is if that wind up being what happened. But nonetheless, I don’t know if that’s what’s holding it up or if the Beal thing is holding up everything. Even though that seems like a foregone conclusion that he is going to make his way to to LA for the Clippers. Uh maybe there’s something else we don’t know about that could potentially be holding up the market, but these guys really don’t have a lot of reason to still be free agents right now. You would see you would typically see these guys or like a Chris Paul or something like that have a destination by now, but it’s really only like a week into free agency. It feels like it’s been longer. Maybe that’s just me though. Um but anyway, Al Horford I think would fit amazingly in Golden State. He is he would man he would be really nice. There’s some reporting that they want to have Draymond be more of a power forward throughout the season to not really accumulate too much wear and tear. And I think Al would fit perfectly uh and also give them another element of looks like they can put if they really want to go uber big and keep their spacing attack they can go Al and post and that would be a really big lineup especially for what the Warriors typically trot out there. Um and they could not really lose much. Al’s a good ball mover, passer, solid defender, can switch a bit. Like he’s he’s a nice player, man. You know, the funny thing about Al is that he is he’s getting up there in age, approaching 40 if he’s not already. I got to go back and check. But he still looks like the same guy. Like he he still looks he’s lost his steps, sure, but his game has changed and he spaces much better to where it’s not really been detrimental to him so much, but he still looks like mostly the same guy as I remember seeing. Um, but on the topic for Melton, Golden State made Melton’s last summer’s only recipient of the full mid-level exception only to lose him to season ending a season ending injury after six games and then deal for Dennis Shruder. Brad Stevens, meanwhile, acknowledged today that Boston expects to lose Horford in free agency. Oh, again, so again on the on the Horford thing, they are he’s gone. He’s expected to be gone. He’s not going to be retaining in Boston. There’s some murmurss about him going over to to Denver, right? But it seems like with the reporting around Denver, they’re going to keep Valenunis, in fact, denying his ability to leave um and keep Valenunis. So, they don’t really not to say they don’t need him, but there’s not really space in the rotation for Horford over there. Um and so, if it’s not LA, that was the only other team he really got linked to, aside from retiring. It’s either retiring or Golden State at this point if you’re all Horford. So, it just once again, it kind of is what it is. But on the Melton piece, yeah, he was signed there last year and if you didn’t keep up with that because it was very, very short-lived, literally a handful of games, he was actually really good. Right now, Melton is a guy who has dealt with injuries throughout his career, but especially over the last couple of seasons, playing literally only six games last year. I saw some people quibbling about the fact that they traded him and him wanting to go back there. He understands it was I I assume anyway. I’m not him, but I assume he understands it was just a business move. Like he was out for the rest of the season. He had a decentsized salary. They turned that into Shruder, which he didn’t really fit what they do there. Uh so there’s that. But they turn Shruder into more and it works out better in the end for them ultimately. But he was really good for them at the start of the season in those six games. Shot 37% from three on six attempts per game. Um, also, you know, aside from being a solid defensive player, actually a really good defensive player, I will say, um, solid rebounder, defensive playmaker for his size, all these things. Um, he averaged 10 points, three rebounds, three assists for them in 20 minutes per game in those six games. And when he was out there, I wanted to kind of show this as well. Uh, the diff for him was plus nine. So, he was a plus nine out there. and their defense was amazing with him on the court in Golden State for those six games last year. And their offense was really, really good, too. And I wanted to extend this out to kind of take a look at the lineup data for him. So, their most used lineup with the Anthony Melton last year was with Kuminga, Green, Wiggins, and Steph. They slotted the Anthony at the two guard, and they were plus 73. Okay. Okay. Samples are incredibly small because he played six games. 37 samples of that lineup, right? So, it’s not like like there was a ton of sample size or anything like that. There wasn’t a lot of uh um opportunity for him. But basically, the gist of it is is any other lineup that they put out there for the most part had a nice a really big positive with Melton on the court. Like, he’s just one of those guys that you can slot in as your fifth guy. And he’s not going to command the ball too much. He can be a solid secondary guy. He’s going to sit in the corner. He’s going to make some athletic defensive plays for you, maybe cut here and there. not the strongest finisher, but a really good ball mover and a guy you can plug in, like I was saying, as your last guy in a rotation, and he’s not going to ruin it for you. Like, he’s not going to be a detriment. He’s going to play great defense. He’s going to do what he does. And that type of guy is somebody that I think a lot of teams should look to employ, right? It’s very reminiscent of a guy like a KCP or uh a Caruso, a better defensive player in Caruso, albeit, but it’s like that type of player. And I I don’t think that there’s enough of those in the league. Like guys that are just great role players. And I think that’s what the Anthony is. Now Golden State has some questions like what are they going to do with guys like GP2? I haven’t been staying completely in tune with that reporting around him. I don’t know if it’s a foregone conclusion that he’s gone at this point. What happens with him ultimately? But I kind of like just getting Melton back in there because even if it’s like a swap per se of like getting rid of one of them and then bringing in Melton, they’re getting younger. They’re getting a little bit more athletic, a little bit speedier, a little bit uh better shooting as well, or in that case, a lot better shooting because GP doesn’t really give you too much on that. Um, so I do like the addition of Melton, but again, I would like Melton on mostly any team. I would actually really like Melton on a team like Detroit. Uh, that would be really fun. You know, the thing about Melton, too, that I kind of saw was he is an absolute winner, dude. Um, any any year that he’s been available to play for the most part, he’s greatly impacted the lineups he’s been on. I mean, look at the Philly stint from 23-24. He only played, I think, 30 something games that year, but look at this. 467 possessions. Not the craziest sample, obviously, but they were in the 98th percentile for Diff plus 33. Him, Harris, Batum, Embiid, and Maxi, right? He just slots in as a two guard and plays like a smaller wing on these teams and can kind of get things done for you. Go back another year and I think they were plus eight diff for him out there and just fits perfectly. Yeah. or plus two overall that season. Not not as crazy. This was I believe a full season, but still a thousand possessions. PJ Tucker, Embiid, Harris, Melton, and James Harden, the Harden year. Uh they were plus seven, right? So like he’s somebody I think that again for the fifth time most teams should be targeting. And if Golden State winds up getting him, that’s the type of move assuming he’s healthy, right? He he suffered an injury literally for Golden State last year, but assuming he’s healthy. That with a guy like Horford, who knows what they get back um who knows what they get back in the Kuminga thing. I laugh because I’m thinking about it now. Golden State hasn’t done anything, right? They’re like the only team that’s done nothing, right? Um and then improved play, chemistry, all that stuff from the other guys on the team. I think Golden State could be a really good team. We’re starting to see a separation in the Western Conference as well. you we know what the Thunder are and what they’re projected to be next year. I thought Houston really really separated themselves from the pack because the rest of the the competitive Western Conference was mostly like a glut of teams. I thought Houston did enough to separate themselves from the pack. I’ll tell you if the Clippers pick up Bradley Beal while adding in Brook Lopez, John Collins, I would I would say that I think that they probably unless the Clippers clip, you know, sometimes that happens. Um shout out to them though. I I I love their offseason. I really do. I would say that they probably are putting themselves in a position to separate themselves from the pack as well and kind of create a second tier with them in Houston. Although I I’d argue Houston’s probably just a bit better. But I think Golden State if they get Melton and Horford, they may they make a they make a strong case to get moved into that tier as well among the Western teams. Um because I just think that these are two guys that just would fit so great in what Golden State plans to do. So ultimately though, we’ll see what happens with these guys. Let me know what you guys think in the comments down below. And if you haven’t seen Trevor’s video from earlier today, make sure you check it out.

In this video on the basketball bulletin Donnie Freeman covers the news that the golden state warriors seem poised to bolster their roster around stars steph curry and jimmy butler with some much needed front court and wing depth on the free agent market

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