Shake Milton Reveals Advantages of Playing With De’Anthony Melton

The Philadelphia 76ers’ backcourt is typically headlined by the ten-time All-Star James Harden and the potential future All-Star Tyrese Maxey.

But with lower-body injuries affecting both players, they are currently off the court and in recovery.

James Harden’s late-October setback is expected to keep him off the court until early December. Tyrese Maxey, who suffered a small fracture in his foot last week, might take a little longer before he gets back to work.

With those two currently out of the mix, the Sixers have leaned on their backups, Shake Milton and De’Anthony Melton, to run the show in the backcourt for the time being. Over the last few games, the two guards have been building on their chemistry while consistently garnering more minutes than they did before.

In previous years, Shake Milton was usually the primary ball-handler off the bench for the Sixers when healthy. With De’Anthony Melton in the mix these days, the former Memphis Grizzlies guard offers a lot of help in that department, which has given Milton and the Sixers an advantage this year.

Following Philadelphia’s Wednesday night loss against the Charlotte Hornets, Milton discussed the advantages of playing alongside a player like Melton through the first stretch of the 2022-2023 season.

“He is easy to play with,” Milton said, according to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “Somebody that is so versatile who can do so many things offensively and defensively, he is just really easy to bounce ideas off of. When you’re on the court with him and able to catch a rhythm with him, it’s just something about people that really know how to play the game of basketball, whether it be cutting, coming off pin-downs, passing the ball, playing defense. Those are the kind of guys you want to play with, and luckily this team is filled with guys like that.”

For the last three games, Milton has received a big boost on offense now that his minutes playing alongside Melton have gone up in the absence of Harden and Maxey. Spending an average of 38 minutes on the court, Milton is producing 22 points per game while putting up 5.3 assists and coming down with 6.3 rebounds.

As for Melton, he’s in a similar boat. Seeing the court for an average of 35 minutes per game, the veteran guard has put up 20 points per game while creating 4.3 assists and collecting five rebounds per game.

The Milton-Melton starting backcourt won’t last long-term in Philadelphia, as Maxey and Harden will inevitably return to the starting lineup once they are healthy. However, the increase in minutes against starting units will surely go a long way for the Sixers, as Milton and Melton are developing solid chemistry during this stretch.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.