Grizzlies’ Danny Green Reunites With Former 76ers Teammates
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The Philadelphia 76ers continued their three-game road trip on Friday night. Following a tough loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Sixers paid a visit to the Memphis Grizzlies for the first and only time this year.
Friday was a reunion for Philadelphia’s veteran guard De’Anthony Melton, who spent the majority of his young career playing for the Grizzlies.
After spending his rookie season as a member of the Phoenix Suns, Melton landed with the Grizzlies, where he came off the bench for a large part of three seasons. Over the summer, the Grizzlies used Melton in a trade with the Sixers to land themselves a first-round pick and a veteran prospect.
Former Sixers forward Danny Green was the veteran the Sixers moved in the deal to net Melton. At the time, Green was coming off knee surgery after suffering a torn ACL in the Sixers’ Game 6 defeat against the Miami Heat in the second round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
At this point, Green is not cleared for action, but he was still present for the Grizzlies-Sixers matchup in Memphis on Friday. Therefore, the veteran sharpshooter reunited with some of his old teammates.
Green spent the last two seasons as a member of the Sixers. After making a championship run with the Los Angeles Lakers, the veteran was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2020 offseason. Considering OKC was still amid a rebuild, they flipped Green to the Sixers in the draft night deal that helped the Sixers get Al Horford’s contract off the books.
Green started in 97 of 131 games for the Sixers over the last two seasons. He averaged eight points while draining 40 percent of his threes.
While Green was a valuable shooter and leader for the Sixers, the team’s need for a ball-handler that brings value on both sides of the ball led the Sixers to pull off the trade, sending Green to Memphis to land Melton.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
