Warriors Re-Sign Key Free Agent without Using Money Earmarked for LeBron
Warriors Re-Sign Key Free Agent without Using Money Earmarked for LeBron
Breaking down how the signing affects their LeBron pushJoey Akeley|
In this story:
Golden State WarriorsThe 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.
Published 59 minutes ago | Modified 11 minutes ago
JOEY AKELEYJoey was a writer and editor at Bleacher Report for 13 years. He's a Bay Area sports expert and a huge NBA fan.
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Don’t forget San Diego’s July 4 fiasco — then vote the bums out
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Skip to main content OpinionDon’t forget San Diego’s July 4 fiasco — then vote the bums out
By CA Post Editorial Board Published July 1, 2026, 9:57 p.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The California Post on GoogleRipped from the headlines of the satirical Babylon Bee:
A DEI extravaganza to mark the 250th birthday of the USA!
Oh wait.
That’s not the Bee; it’s actually a thing: San Diego County plans an identity-politics spectacular this July 4.
Wanna go?
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The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted this year to align the county’s Independence Day event with “equity and racial justice” goals.
Per a social media post from the mayor of El Cajon, the three-hour program will feature: a “tribal intimate blessing welcoming to land”; a tribal invocation; the American and black national anthems; local tribal community stories; Latino community stories; Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community stories; LGBTQIA+ community stories; and black and African community stories.
Whew. It’s exhausting just to read about.
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But more to the point: all of this … on July 4 of America’s 250th year? What message does the county of San Diego mean to send?
Not one that elevates fun, family, unity, respect, gratitude and patriotism — traditional Independence Day fare.
Instead, the county stoops to woke pandering.
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Extolling favored groups on the nation’s birthday is e pluribus unum in reverse: ex uno, plura.
It’s divisive. It’s ill-timed. And it’s disrespectful to the nation, to its founding values and to the US Armed Forces who have fought and sometimes died to guard the rights the grievance crowd takes for granted.
In the very recent past, Americans of all stars and stripes could agree on some things, including the Fourth of July and its fun family patriotic fare.
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Remember the iconic jingle, “We love baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet?”
Those were days when Americans united around major holidays, around a shared heritage of freedom and around pride in a country that’s the freest in the world.
No longer.
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These days, the scolds can’t be satisfied, the socialists win elections from New York to Colorado (unthinkable not long ago) and divisive Fourth of July programs emerge in once-moderate places like San Diego County.
Increasingly, elected officials want to shove a thumb in the eye of the nation, its founding, its traditions and its glory.
Enough.
Note to the radicals who rush to tear America down on perhaps its most cherished holiday:
Stop being petulant about losing national elections.
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Love your country even if you don’t love its current leader.
Teach, respect and appreciate the values of 1776: liberty, individual rights, equality, limited government and the rule of law.
Ditch the woke bilge and restore the picnics, US flags and fireworks.
Restore e pluribus unum.
Skip the lecture series and let the people have fun.
And a bonus memo to San Diego County voters: Remember this farce next election.
Just maybe, in another grand American tradition, you’ll do this:
Throw the bums out.
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