Rockets: 3 things we learned about De’Anthony Melton in the Summer League

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LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 6: Danuel House #65 and De’Anthony Melton #0 of the Houston Rockets shake hands during the game against the Indiana Pacers during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 6, 2018 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images) /

His defense is legit and has upside

While the shooting and other aspects of his offensive game are exciting, the defense of De’Anthony Melton was what really impressed me. I liked to focus in on Melton as I was watching the Summer Rockets play defense and he always seemed to know what to do on that end of the court.

Even when he was beaten off the dribble by someone quicker, such as Collin Sexton, he had the ability to recover and even picked up some blocks that way. His defensive intensity and instincts are what I think will translate most effectively to the actual Rockets as soon as this season.

Against lottery guards

In that game vs. Sexton, Melton was able to hold him to 5-17 shooting, despite the fact that the No. 8 overall pick had been very great and efficient throughout the Summer League. Some of that was not Melton, as the Cavs tried to switch bigs onto Sexton as much as possible. Still, he was able to make some solid defensive plays, like this one courtesy of Curtlow (@SWHTown30) on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/SWHTown30/status/1018236726815412224

As a bigger guard (6’6), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Clippers was able to find success against Melton (6’4). He had 25 points on 12-21 shooting, but once again, Melton was switched off of him quite a bit. He played solid one-on-one defense at times and showed that he will be able to translate that to the NBA game.

Overall, Melton led the team and all of Summer League, currently, with 3.00 steals per game. He was ripping the opposition right and left, causing some great fast break opportunities for the Rockets.

He has some serious upside on the defensive end, folks.

Next: No. 3