The Philadelphia 76ers worked very quickly in the 2022 offseason. They made a trade on draft night, acquiring De’Anthony Melton to add depth. They received help from James Harden when he opted out of his deal, giving the team money to sign PJ Tucker, Danuel House Jr. and Trevelin Queen in free agency.
All of the moves the Sixers have made make them feel much more confident in being able to break through in the Eastern Conference. They have a strong star duo, Joel Embiid and Harden, and quality depth and role players around them.
In terms of their rising stock in the East, they are trending upward as Bleacher Report puts it:
The PJ Tucker signing might have gotten more publicity — and he can certainly help in the short term — but the Philadelphia 76ers’ real coup this summer was the trade for De’Anthony Melton.
Philadelphia sent Danny Green (who may miss all of the 2022-23 season with a torn ACL) and the draft pick that became David Roddy for Melton, who’s sixth in the NBA in steal percentage over the last two seasons.
He’s far from a one-trick pony, though. Over the same span, Melton has hit 38.8 percent of his three-point attempts and showed off some decent facilitation chops as well.
The Sixers will likely call upon Danuel House Jr. to do the same. The last time he was on a Daryl Morey-assembled team, he averaged 9.7 points and shot 37.3 percent from deep over his three full seasons with the Houston Rockets.
The Tucker addition is getting all of the love and the majority of the attention, but the additions of Melton, House Jr. and maybe even Queen will definitely play a role in whatever Philadelphia does in the upcoming season. There is no doubt that this was a successful offseason for Daryl Morey and the front office.
[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=67094]
[lawrence-related id=67153,67132,67129]
