Who is De'Anthony Melton? - Edge of Philly Sports Network

Now we all had time to sleep and react to who is De’Anthony Melton. Let’s break it down. All the draft talk in the last week has been “Will the Sixers find a trade partner to add an NBA-ready player to the roster?” They found a trade partner. At the last minute, the Sixers agreed to trade the No. 23 overall pick and veteran forward Danny Green to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for De’Anthony Melton. It was initially reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Who Is De’Anthony Melton?

The move makes sense for the Sixers. It wasn’t a big superstar like Bradley Beal but they landed a young, two-way player. He could fit well alongside Joel Embiid and James Harden. Melton is a career 36 percent shooter from long range, and he has averaged 1.3 steals per game. The big thing is he’s only 24 years old and still has two years remaining on his current contract. Melton is under contract for two more seasons and has an $8.25 million salary in 2022-23, per Spotrac. He will easily play 20-plus minutes. Will he be a starter or be a great 6th man. On paper, he seems to be the exact type of role player the Sixers should be looking to surround their stars.

Melton was part of Memphis’ rotation last season and averaged 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. He has proven himself to be elite at forcing turnovers. His 2.5 steal percentage and 1.1 block percentage were both in the 96th percentile or higher among combo guards, per Cleaning the Glass.

He’s a strong defensive rebounder for only being 6-foot-2. De’Anthony Melton’s strengths overlap nicely with several of the Sixers’ weaknesses last season, at least on paper. Melton has also improved his three-point shooting and knocked down 38.8 percent of his long-range tries over the last two seasons.

It seems like Morey can not let Houston go with all his retreads. Morey selected De’Anthony Melton 46th in the 2018 draft before sending him to the Suns in August of the same year.

Good Bye Danny Green

No matter how you feel about Danny Green he was a driving force in the playoffs for the Sixers. He has ruffled the feathers of fans with comments, especially during the Simmons debacle. Though a bit diminished physically, he was valuable for the Sixers on both the court and sidelines. Green, who turned 35 years old Wednesday, was set to have his $10 million dollar salary for next season guaranteed on July 1.

Green lost his starting role to Matisse Thybulle but then regained it at the tail end of last season when Thybulle was ineligible to play games in Canada because he’s not fully vaccinated. Unfortunately, Danny Green was injured during this year’s playoff run. He is currently rehabbing from tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee during the Sixers’ Game 6 loss to Miami.

Al Zaffiri

Al is one of the two co-creators of Edge of Philly Sports. Al started radio and podcasting in 2012 and covering sports in 2015. A lifelong Philly sports fan since watching the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers with his grandfathers at age 7. Al always looks at the other side of the hot topics and gives his different outlook on those topics. Web and Graphic Design.