After Klay Thompson signalled his intentions to join the Dallas Mavericks early in free agency, the Golden State Warriors moved quickly to find a replacement in the form of De’Anthony Melton.

Melton was terrific in his time with the Warriors, but unfortunately it was far too short-lived after suffering a season-ending ACL injury against the Dallas Mavericks on November 12 at Chase Center.

The Warriors must already have their sights set on signing De’Anthony Melton again in free agency

Golden State wasted no time utilizing Melton’s one-year, $12.8 million contract as soon as he became trade eligible, dealing him to the Brooklyn Nets along with second-round picks for Dennis Schroder.

It’s fair to say that Schroder’s fit with the Warriors has been less than ideal, particularly in comparison to Melton who was much more 3-and-D and a perfect complement to Stephen Curry in the backcourt.

While you can’t attribute all of Golden State’s recent issues to the loss of Melton, there is a direct and unsurprising correlation between his absence and the downfall of the team’s season. The Warriors were 9-2 when Melton got injured, and have since gone 11-18 to fall back to a .500 record and 11th in the Western Conference standings.

After dealing with a back issue that saw him miss multiple games early in the season (and also limited him to 38 games last season), Melton returned and started just two games alongside Curry prior to his devastating injury.

While a small sample size, the back court duo helped lift Golden State to two of their best wins of the season. Melton had a 19-point, 10-rebound double-double in a big 11-point victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City, with the 26-year-old having shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range while adding two assists and three steals.

Melton followed that up with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists on 6-of-12 shooting against the Mavericks, which included playing out the closing minutes after sufferering the season-ending injury.

The Warriors had found their Thompson replacement at the shooting guard position. Unfortunately we only saw it for a fleeting period, with Golden State having failed to find an effective solution since.

With Melton now recovering from injury, the Warriors must do all they can to retain a relationship with the 6’2″ guard with the hope of bringing him back in free agency during the summer. Given the injury factor, it’s likely Melton will be available for the taxpayer mid-level exception (approx. $5.7 million) or even less this time around.

While there’s months to play out before we enter legitimate free agency discussion, this is an obvious move the Warriors should have their sights set on once the window opens at the end of June.