Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton to undergo season-ending knee surgery

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Golden State Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton will undergo season-ending knee surgery.

The team announced Wednesday that Melton will have his procedure soon for a sprained left anterior cruciate ligament that coach Steve Kerr said is partially torn. Melton, who had missed the last two games, thought about it in recent days according to Kerr.

Tests showed that surgery was the best option, the Warriors said. Melton, who has also dealt with a troublesome back, had been a projected backcourt starter alongside Stephen Curry with Klay Thompson's departure to Dallas.

“It’s obviously terrible news, I feel so bad for De’Anthony, he’s such a perfect fit for us and we were so excited to have him and he was clearly going to be our starter next to Steph,” Kerr said. “The good news is he's a young guy and the surgery is pretty routine these days, so he should be able to come back and resume his career really well, but I feel awful for him and bad for us, too.”

The 26-year-old Melton played six games with two starts, averaging 10.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 20.2 minutes. He also sat out five contests with a strained lower back.

“What he was bringing to this team was great so we'll miss that,” Draymond Green said after Wednesday's 120-97 win over the Atlanta Hawks. “But what we'll miss more is just his presence around, his attitude, his demeanor every single day. Always smiling, never upset about anything, just always bringing great vibes.

"You hate to see a young guy in a contract year go through this, but I know the imprint he's already left on this organization. He'll have an opportunity to come back and hopefully he'll decide that's the right thing for him.”

Now, Lindy Waters III — who, like Melton, is a strong defender aside from his scoring talent — will be a regular starter and scored 10 points in Wednesday's win.

The Warriors will evaluate different combinations going forward to find what works.

“Fortunately we do have a deep team and guys will be ready to step up,” said Kerr, who noted he has been talking to Melton about his own career and the seventh-year guard's upcoming free agency. “There's been plenty of conversation behind the scenes. He's disappointed but he knows this is the right decision. He told me he really spent the last few days trying to wrap his head around it and think about what makes the most sense. This is the right decision, can't mess around with a partially torn ACL and think that everything's going to be fine if he just plays through it.”

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