De’Anthony Melton is ‘ready to be a dog’ and bring toughness to the Sixers’ win-now core

De’Anthony Melton was a bit distracted while playing the card game booray with friends the night of the NBA draft.

The fifth-year combo guard kept refreshing his Twitter feed, because “you never know what could happen” during the event that often comes with a dose of current player movement. And when Melton’s name appeared as part of a trade between the 76ers and Memphis Grizzlies, his first reaction was to make sure the news did not originate from a fake account.

That quest for clarification quickly morphed into excitement for the future. As the first of the Sixers’ series of offseason acquisitions to bolster the roster around a win-now core of Joel Embiid, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris, Melton believes he can provide complementary perimeter defense, outside shooting, and grit.

“Once I saw the team, I’m like, ‘OK, that’s a great spot,’ ” Melton told The Inquirer by phone last week. “That’s a great fit for me. … I understand what this team needs. I understand what this team is trying to do. I’m ready for the task at hand. I’m ready for whatever’s to come.”

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Though he turned 24 in late May, Melton has already been heavily exposed to the business side of the NBA.

He was selected in the 2018 draft’s second round by then-Houston Rockets president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, but traded to the Phoenix Suns before the start of training camp. He spent his rookie season thrust into part-time point-guard duties for a 19-win Suns team and then was dealt again the ensuing summer, this time to Memphis as part of a package to unload the salary of lottery bust Josh Jackson.

Since then, Melton has been a key role player for the ascendent young Grizzlies, who finished with the Western Conference’s second-best regular-season record last season.

On the defensive end, he uses his long arms as his “sneak attack” to harass ballhandlers and disrupt passing lanes. He brings physicality first developed during his childhood years as a football player. He got more grounded in his shooting base, helping him make 38.8% of his 4.7 three-point attempts per game over the past two seasons. He is a terrific rebounder for his position (4.5 per game last season), an asset for a Sixers team that ranked second-to-last in the NBA in that category a season ago. And he strives to be a swift decision-maker with the ball in his hands, a necessity in Doc Rivers’ system and an approach Melton anticipates will add some transition pop to one of the league’s slowest teams.

“I feel like that’s what this team needs to create easy buckets,” Melton said. " … I’ve got a quick trigger and I’m ready just to get straight to it. I don’t really do too much dribbling around and stuff like that.”

Melton joins fellow former Rockets P.J. Tucker, Danuel House, and Trevelin Queen as new Sixers. Melton said Morey, who now runs the Sixers’ front office, “was always good in my book,” even following the trade that occurred before he ever played a game for Houston.

Melton appreciated that Morey still drafted him after he did not play his final college season at USC. He was indefinitely suspended while the school investigated his eligibility as part of a bribery scandal involving an assistant coach and somebody close to Melton. He and Morey now reunite after Melton temporarily fell out of the Memphis rotation during the Grizzlies’ first-round playoff series win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, before averaging 7.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals in 20.5 minutes per game in the Western Conference semifinals against the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.

“The trust that [Morey] gave me … it meant a lot to me, honestly,” Melton said. “Because not playing that year, I dropped a lot of spots [in the draft], all the way to 46. So for him to take the chance on me and the love they gave me … I just felt like I was the guy that they wanted.”

Melton, who returns to Los Angeles during the offseason, worked out with Maxey last week and expects to spend much of July getting to know his new teammates. He has prioritized improving his ballhandling and body because “we expect to play late into the year” in 2022-23. Despite changing teams for the third time in five offseasons, Melton believes he is “built for this.”

“A lot of people might have given in or let it get to them mentally or physically,” Melton said. “I’m just going to keep chugging along.”

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And Melton received some unexpected foreshadowing about his new destination in January, when the Grizzlies played an overtime thriller against the Sixers in Philly. Agent Joel Bell, who lived in Center City after college, brought Melton cheesesteaks to sample from Jim’s on South Street, Dalessandro’s, and Claymont Steak Shop in Delaware.

Now, Melton said he is ready to find his own neighborhood hole-in-the-wall spot, as he immerses himself in his new team and surroundings.

“I’m ready to be a dog,” Melton said. “I’m ready to get out to the city. I’m ready to embrace it. I’m ready for them to embrace me. I’m ready for the love.”