The Sixers acquired De'Anthony Melton from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Danny Green and the 23rd overall selection, a league source confirmed to The Daily Six. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the first to report the trade.
Melton, 24, is a four-year veteran after being selected by the Houston Rockets with the 46th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Melton was traded two months later in a deal that brought Brandon Knight and Marquese Chriss to the Rockets.
Melton played a portion of one year at USC, averaging 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals, known for his tenacious on-ball defense. His Achilles' heel as a prospect was his outside shot, as he connected on just 28.4% of his 3-point attempts at USC, then shot a combined 69-235 (29.4%) from deep during his first two seasons in the NBA.
But he's turned that around in a big way over the past two years, shooting 38.8% (226-583) from deep and 76.6% (131-171) from the free-throw line to become a true 3-and-D guard for the Grizzlies. Melton was an especially accurate shooter on catch-and-shoot jumpers this past year, connecting on 39.7% of his catch-and-shoot shots, per Synergy, which gives him an eFG% of 59.1%, since most of them were from 3-point range and places him in the 81st percentile of effectiveness leaguewide on catch-and-shoot shots. Melton has shot 48.5% on corner 3-point attempts over the past two seasons.
