Houston Rockets: Draftee De’Anthony Melton ready to strut amid a dark cloud
With so much at stake at what the Houston Rockets are doing right now, it’s a slight breath of fresh air to think about the future of the team. The team hopes to nab a second-round steal in guard De’Anthony Melton. What does he do best?
The Houston Rockets were part of the soft-landing the NBA Draft tonight, with general manager Daryl Morey hoping that he’s able to find a second-round steal with the 46th pick. Although this team is geared up for and built for the present-day of winning an NBA title, there’s a lot of think about this team’s future as it’s always prudent to look ahead.
There’s no doubt that Morey is doing that and to say he wouldn’t be active in the NBA Draft would be one of the biggest understatements known to man. It’s not happening as I’m sure he’s up late nights trying to not only figure out a way to beat the Golden State Warriors but how to make this team even better than it already is.
I fully trust Morey in what he’s doing as the Houston Rockets have been exciting to watch, even in those down years of 2010-12 before James Harden came onto the scene. That’s the deal that he engineered that was heard ’round the world and the rest has been history. I have to continue to pinch myself in regard to this team currently being one of a handful of presumptive contenders for the Larry O’Brien trophy.
But let’s get to the 46th pick of the NBA Draft, you know, De’Anthony Melton! The Houston Rockets have themselves a nice pick that’s worth the development and the best part about it is that this is a second-rounder with no guaranteed money coming to him. He’ll have to earn it and he’ll get every opportunity to do so at the Las Vegas Summer League which will be held July 6-17.
It’ll be all systems go for the dynamic guard, who has come on strong to the professional basketball realm, after one hot-stepping season with the University of Southern California.
The North Hollywood, Calif. native hailed from Crespi Camelite High, a prep school that has had success with its program over the past decade, making the playoffs 10 out of the past 11 seasons along with six state championship appearances and back-to-back state titles (2015-16).
Melton was a part of those and he is now, by far, the team’s most successful alumni by making his way into the NBA. We’ll have to see if he makes the most of it.
Melton was expected to return for his sophomore season at USC but team decided to hold him out amid the allegations that he was involved in the ongoing FBI probe of USC as well as other athletic programs of bribery. The feds said that he accepted a $5,000 payment in exchange of the hiring Christian Dawkins as his agent, which eventually came to fruition. He was never publicly accused or charged with a crime but USC apparently was doing a little C.Y.A. to protect their interests.
Melton denies the allegations and is no longer associated with Dawkins as well but the dark cloud that has stymied his progress at the collegiate level will hopefully not follow him into the pros.
The shooting guard dropped out of school this past February and wanted to just focus on trying to get into the NBA. Melton was invited to the NBA Combine last month to which he made enough of an impression to be on the Houston Rockets radar and that’s why he’s certainly with the organization.
With a man that has such a story of perseverance and to face adversity head on, he has no choice but to succeed and the learn how to be a pro’s pro on the fly. He has consistently been compared to NBA guards Langston Galloway and Terry Rozier.
Here’s what the experts had to say on Melton:
"“An 18-year-old from Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California, Melton didn’t even crack the RSCI Top 200 out of high school and wasn’t expected to make this type of impact in his first year with USC . While he has a ways to go in terms of his ball-handling, lead guard skills, and shooting stroke, and certainty needs more time and experience before he’s ready to play in the NBA, Melton has caught the attention of scouts thanks to his impressive physical tools, sharp defensive instincts and strong feel for the game.”"
NBA.com writes that his defense is his calling card with his offensive game currently in development. He has notable length for a guard — 6’3″ 1/4 height, 6’8″.5 wingspan and a 193-
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pound frame — which will certainly help when he’s throwing his hands up on defense and able to pluck away steals from his assignments.
He’s so solid on defense that he allowed 0.778 points per isolation possession, which puts him up in the 57th percentile among eligible guards of his class. With his offensive mindset, he’s more viewed as a finisher to the rim with explosiveness. He can also curtail his game to play above the rim which makes Melton such a fascinating get with such a large physical repertoire for a guard.
Although he’s far from being NBA-ready, I think this as terrific of a second-rounder that you can get. Once he develops his offensive skills even more and I think he could be a healthy contributor for this team and a deadly weapon off the bench. We’ll have to see!
Next: Rockets: A comprehensive analysis of 2017-18 season
Melton averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals through 25 games with the Trojans in 2016-17. His shooting line was .437/.284/.706.