Turns out, the Philadelphia 76ers did the right thing passing up on the chance to re-sign De’Anthony Melton to a new contract when he hit free agency last year. After all, it has all gone downhill for his career since leaving for supposedly greener pastures in San Francisco, where the injury bug has hit him harder than before.
Last season, Melton was one of the more important acquisitions for Golden State. In fact, he quickly earned the trust of Steve Kerr and the coaching staff. Unfortunately for the 27-year-old, he suffered a torn ACL just six games into the season, and eventually, he found himself without a place on an NBA roster.
Now, the Warriors were magnanimous enough to sign Melton to another deal this summer, but he has not made his return. ACL injuries usually recover in less than a calendar year, but in his case, his recovery seems to have been much slower, as Kerr revealed just recently that the combo guard is not yet close to returning to the floor for the middling Warriors.
Former 76ers guard De’Anthony Melton is facing a possibly permanent career decline
When healthy, Melton is one of the better role players in the entire league. He is a hard-nosed defender who can guard three positions while also being able to function as an efficient release valve on offense as a secondary playmaker. Those are his best traits which the 76ers were luckily able to experience for themselves.
In fact, Melton was so good of a fit in Philly that in his first season, Doc Rivers infamously benched Tyrese Maxey for him. While the move raised a lot of eyebrows (and he was eventually relocated to the bench during the playoffs), Melton allowed the 76ers to have a more established balance across the board, allowing James Harden and Joel Embiid to fully maximize their two-man game.
Having said that, that Melton is reeling from the blunt attack of the injury bug should not come as a surprise for the 76ers. After all, during his second season in Philly, he was only able to appear in 38 games, which probably contributed to the front office deciding to part ways with him in free agency.
Now, the season is still young and Melton still has a ton of time to prove himself, but for now, his return to being a productive role players is hazy at best. In fact, his lack of a timeline at this juncture is particularly worrying. Hopefully, he can come back and make an impact for the Warriors, even if not in the same degree as he did for the 76ers.