De’Anthony Melton, the injured guard for the Golden State Warriors, has been connected to two Eastern Conference teams that may provide a competent rotation player in exchange.

Following his season-ending ACL injury, Anthony Slater of The Athletic floated Melton’s expiring salary as a Warriors trade asset before the February trade deadline.

A competent rotation player from a team like the Raptors or Nets might be acquired in January or February thanks to Melton’s contract, which is tied to a draft pick. “The Warriors can use Melton as a building block to make any big or medium-sized deal happen because they have a ton of other mid-sized contracts (Kevon Looney, Gary Payton II, Kuminga),” Slater wrote.

Before facing the Phoenix Suns on November 30, the Warriors are ranked third in the Western Conference after losing their last three games.

Melton’s two-way skill set next to Stephen Curry in their backcourt has proven difficult for them to replicate.

On November 20, Kerr said, “I feel so bad for De’Anthony,” according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports. We were thrilled to get him, and he’s such a great fit for us. It was obvious that he would start beside Steph.

Melton’s starting position was taken by an untested player named Lindy Waters III. Without Curry (knee), the undrafted Waters only managed four points on a poor 1-of-7 shooting effort in their 105-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.