4. Defensive assignments
The Grizzlies’ starting five consists of Ja Morant, De’Anthony Melton, Dillon Brooks, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas. The only concrete assignment here is Embiid on Valanciunas. Beyond the obvious, Philadelphia could go a few different directions.
I would bet money on Richardson trailing Morant. He’s the Sixers’ top on-ball defender after Simmons, who will probably split time between Melton — a polished ball-handler in his own right — Jackson, and Brooks, depending on where Brown decides to hide Harris.
This isn’t the best matchup on paper for Harris. Jackson is bigger, can score effectively in the post, and shots the 3 at a high volume. He will keep Harris occupied both inside and out, even if he’s not much of a go-to scorer at this point in his career. The alternative, however, is leaving Harris to chase Dillon Brooks around the perimeter, which isn’t ideal.
Milton is a slightly bigger question mark, if only because this is his first stint with the starting five. At 6-foot-5, Milton has a 7-foot-1 wingspan. In theory, he can defend up and down the positional chart. But he’s far from a certain entity on defense, even if the tools are readily apparent. Milton struggles with twitcher athletes — which rules out Morant — and can get pounded by stronger wings.
In the end, he’s probably fine defending either Melton or Brooks. Given that Brooks is Memphis’ top perimeter scorer next to Morant, I would anticipate Simmons checking him. That leaves Melton for Milton. So the tree looks like this.
- Josh Richardson –> Ja Morant
- Shake Milton –> De’Anthony Melton
- Ben Simmons –> Dillon Brooks
- Tobias Harris –> Jaren Jackson Jr.
- Joel Embiid –> Jonas Valanciunas