Has Shake Milton Saved His Career in Philadelphia?
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At the beginning of the season, for all extents and purposes, Shake Milton's time with the Philadelphia 76ers seemed to be coming to a close.
Whether it was the offseason acquisition of De'Anthony Melton from the Memphis Grizzlies, Doc Rivers failing to supply Milton with minutes in the previous season, or the lack of discussion surrounding a new deal for the former Southern Methodist guard.
To add to this, during the opening weeks of the season, all of the talks discussing the Sixers' guard slots were centered around James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and Melton, with Milton only averaging nine minutes through his first five appearances.
Despite this, Milton was given a major opportunity to prove himself when both Tyrese Maxey and James Harden were sidelined with substantial injuries. This opportunity saw a direct increase in playing time for the 26-year-old, starting to average double the minutes, going out for 18 minutes per game, averaging seven points per game on 50-percent shooting.
During this initial spree of games, Milton would still play in the shadow of Melton, who started nearly every game during this time period.
This, however, would change when Maxey went out, which is when Milton truly started to shake up the team.
Following Maxey's move to the injury report, Milton started to play nearly 37 minutes per game, scoring 20 points per game on 54 percent accuracy from the field while also feeding six assists to his teammates per game.
A testament to the level at which Milton has been playing would be his four-game streak of scoring 20 points or more, which featured his 29-point season high against the Orlando Magic in late November.
As Harden and Maxey start to make their returns to the starting squad, it seems that Milton's time in the spotlight has come to a close, but there is an argument to be made that he has what it takes to continue his career in Philadelphia past this season, with the guard proving to be an impeccable back-up guard.
With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Daryl Morey and the Sixers' front office still have time to make up their mind surrounding the 26-year-old, who has been with the franchise for four seasons.
Declan Harris contributes to All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @DecIanH.
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