Daryl Morey believes Sixers got better after De’Anthony Melton trade

Daryl Morey believes the Philadelphia 76ers got better after acquiring De’Anthony Melton from the Memphis Grizzlies.

CAMDEN N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers swung a trade on Thursday, sending their No. 23 pick and Danny Green to the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire De’Anthony Melton.

Melton will help the Sixers right now, which a rookie selected at No. 23 would not, so this deal helps the Sixers’ short-term title chase. The Sixers selected David Roddy with that pick, but he will head to Memphis in the deal.

Melton averaged 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 37.4% from deep in the 2021-22 season with the Grizzlies. He also provided elite defense on the perimeter. He is the type of guy the Sixers need right now.

“We think we got better tonight,” said president Daryl Morey. “I do want to start by thanking Danny Green. I really wanted to get him the fourth ring, but I think we haven’t seen the last of Danny. He’s been a warrior for us.”

Morey could not offer much detail on the deal because it is not official yet. NBA rules prevent teams from talking about a trade on the record until the deal becomes official. However, Morey gave some hints into what the team was thinking.

“We’re excited about the possibility of some trades coming,” Morey added. “We’re thinking we might be able to pick up a rotation piece. I do want to thank our staff who worked a billion hours on draft picks that may not be here in the future.”

The Sixers have a title in their sights. Led by Joel Embiid and James Harden, they needed a guy like Melton who can come in and contribute off the bench.

“We’re trying to win now,” said Morey without directly speaking about the deal. “We’re looking for players who can contribute, and we were the No. 1 defense two years ago. We were good last year. We want to make sure we improve that so if we can get a perimeter defender maybe for a draft pick, we feel very good about that. We think someone like that is someone that can really contribute and be a two-way player. Someone like that would be a really nice addition.”

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=65324]

[lawrence-related id=65345,65338,65331]