It was widely believed that the Sixers, who are in win-now mode, would work a trade involving pick #23 during Thursday night’s draft.

They did just that, acquiring De’Anthony Melton from Memphis:

Melton is 24 years old and was drafted by Daryl Morey in Houston, though he never played for the Rockets. He was moved to Phoenix before his rookie season began.

He’s a 6’2″, 200 pound combo guard who plays defense and came along as a three point shooter these past two seasons, hitting at 41% in 2020/2021 and 37% in 2021/2022. He can get you 10 and four a night and gives the Sixers some needed athleticism and grit on the perimeter. Really nice bench guard for this squad, better than most of the options they’ve had recently. He’s played 235 games with only 55 career starts, so 6th man/7th man is a role he’s played pretty much from the beginning.

This is a good trade. Danny Green is coming off the injury and not getting any younger. Keeping pick #23 wouldn’t have done much for you THIS YEAR, so the Sixers made a timeline type of move and brought back a decent guard. His cap hit is around $8 million this season.