Sixers' Shake Milton Put on Size During Short Offseason
Heading into the 2019-2020 NBA season, Philadelphia 76ers guard Shake Milton didn't have any clue as to whether he'd have a consistent role in the team's rotation or not. Although he picked up some playing time early on in the year, an injury set him back.
Once Milton managed to heal up, he was left out of the rotation until a spread of injuries on the roster left former Sixers head coach Brett Brown with no choice but to go back to Milton. And once that happened, Milton's emergence commenced.
Last year, Milton played in 40 games for the 76ers. At a point, he even won the starting point guard position as he averaged nearly ten points-per-game while shooting 48-percent from the field -- and knocking down 43-percent of his threes.
Clearly, the young guard improved all aspects of his game in year two. Now, as he's looking towards his third season in the NBA, Milton focused on sizing himself up this offseason and revealed he packed on some pounds over the last few months.
"My body was one of the main focuses [to improve this offseason]," Milton revealed on Wednesday after working out. "Just trying to get stronger and put on some weight a little bit." According to Sports Reference, Milton weighed in at 205 pounds last season.
On Wednesday, the third-year guard revealed that the number is up as of late. "So, probably during the season, I was playing around 204 or 205, something around that range," Milton said. "I'm cool like 217-218 now."
Putting on some mass will surely help Milton out this season as he will be held to a high standard by his new coach, Doc Rivers. While Rivers mentioned the possibility of utilizing Milton in a JJ Redick-like role off the bench -- the Sixers head coach made it apparent that he won't hold Milton back from playing free next season. If Milton's driving to the basket often, his size upgrade will come in handy next year.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_
