Q. De'Anthony, what's your approach going to be into this coming off-season with the contract and whatnot?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: My approach, I would say just getting better at everything. Just coming into this year, there was just so much up in the air that we didn't know or I didn't know that could happen. So now that I know that type of stuff, it's just about working on myself, and whatever happens happens after that.
Q. Do you want to come back?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: Most definitely. I would love to come back. I kind of leave that type of stuff up to my agent and upstairs, but I would love to.
Q. How would you summarize this season in which you came back from the ACL injury and got back in the flow of things and made a season of it?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: I think this season, it was a lot. We had a lot to deal with, just in terms of me being out to start the year, to me coming back, to seeing Jimmy go down, to seeing Moses go down, to seeing almost every guy at some point or another, kind of go down. But at the same time, I commend everybody that was out there because that's not easy. We battled and we fought every game. We tried our best no matter what. That's all you can hope for when going into a season.
Q. Do you feel like your body is back to 100 percent?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: Yeah, for the most part. I think the bumps and bruises that come with a season, I think everybody is going to have those, and I think those kind of crept up more so for me, which kind of led to my mental fatigue of playing this long at the same time, too.
Q. Do you feel like your numbers reflect who you are as a player?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: Not necessarily because I think sometimes I do kind of stuff that doesn't show up on the stat sheet. I also think I didn't shoot the ball as well as I wanted to this year. But I think I know and we know that I'm a great shooter.
That type of stuff, you never really know. But I think I still just do stuff that doesn't really show up on the stat sheet.
Q. You said that you'd like to be back here. You can see what a good fit you are here, both as a player and with the culture in the locker room. But also with that, do you feel like you owe it to yourself to test the open market just to see what else is out there for you as well, just to give yourself that opportunity?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: I mean, I think that type of stuff is just in my mind, but I think that's why also, you've got to give yourself time to kind of decompress and see everything that's going on, kind of let the dust settle. I think that type of stuff is what I'm going to worry about next week and stuff like that and get with my agent and let Mike and Steve and Rick decide what they have going on as well, too.
Q. Steve's future is obviously uncertain right now. How has it been him coaching you this season, and what have you learned from him coaching you?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: I love Steve. I love Steve. I just think I love the way he approaches the game, and also being a player, he kind of understands what you're going through sometimes with having a season particularly like we had.
But with Steve, I just learned so much about just playing with confidence, playing with confidence and kind of learning the game and knowing tendencies and playing to your strengths, too.
Q. You came into the season, weren't ready to play at the start, still had some rehab work, but once you got going you got yourself back to at the end of the season you were playing back to backs. Physically did you ever get to the level you wanted to get to?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: Physically, I would say not necessarily, just because obviously would have loved to play more minutes, but I just think when it comes to my knee or my back, that held up great. But it was just other stuff that lingered that I didn't necessarily really like.
But in terms of the major things, which is, like I said, my knee and my back, that held up perfectly fine. So that's what I can hope for, and that's what I love.
Q. How much does it matter to you that Steph has said that he likes playing alongside you?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: It means a lot. It means a lot, somebody of his caliber, of his stature, to say things that compliment you and compliment him, as well. It's important because that means you're also doing something right. Your style of play can translate to a lot of different players, and a player like him, he's so special that being on the court at the same time as him is surreal sometimes.
Q. What can you share about what Steve and Mike's message was to you in your end-of-season review?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: We made it through. We made it through. I just think everybody was just so -- that's one thing I love about this organization. They put your personal interests in there, and they put your personal interests sometimes first. I know we kind of ended the season short of what we wanted to, and we had aspirations to play all the way to the end, but at the same time, they understood my circumstances and my situation, and they were just so excited for me just to be able to make it through, just to finish the season, finish the season healthy, and the year I had, they feel like it was amazing. So that's all I can hope for.
Q. Would Steve's decision affect your decision when it comes to your future and the player option?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: I think that type of stuff is just to handle when it's there because we never know what could happen before, we never know what could happen right after. Whenever he makes his decision, I know he should take his time and figure it out. But I think after that, you've kind of got to let the dominos fall just to let everybody see what's going on, whatever his decision is, and give that a little bit of time just to see where we go next, too.
Q. You mentioned getting through the season. What was your experience working with Rick and the medical staff after a full year?
DE'ANTHONY MELTON: Top tier. I don't think there's nobody better out there. Obviously I haven't been to every team, but just the way they handle everything, the way they do their due diligence on you and make sure you're okay, and they put so much emphasis on every player and every aspect that it's amazing. It's definitely amazing.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports