Shake Milton Parts Ways With Sixers in Free Agency

The Philadelphia 76ers will lose a guard in free agency. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Shake Milton is set to join the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Since entering the NBA, Milton has spent his entire professional career with the Sixers. After a three-year run at SMU, Milton joined the Sixers as a second-round pick. He was the 54th selection by the Dallas Mavericks and moved to the Sixers for two additional second-rounders.

At first, Milton was a two-way prospect for the Sixers. Therefore, he spent time with the team’s G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. After spending his rookie season on a two-way deal, Milton inked a four-year contract with the Sixers ahead of the 2019-2020 run.

On a standard contract, Milton didn’t have much of a role at the start of his sophomore year, but he emerged as a legitimate rotation piece later in the year, even earning a career-high of 24 starts. That season, Milton averaged nine points while hitting on 43 percent of his threes.

The following year, Milton wouldn’t resume his role as a starter with the Sixers under new head coach Doc Rivers. However, he remained a key piece off the bench, seeing the court for an average of 23 minutes in 60 games. Milton put up a career-high of 13 points per game while hitting on 35 percent of his threes during the 2020-2021 run.

While Milton played plenty of regular season games over the next two years under Rivers, averaging eight points per game, he fell out of favor ahead of the Sixers’ 2023 playoff run. This year, the veteran guard averaged a career-low three minutes per game in six outings during the playoffs.

Considering Milton struggled to find consistency on the Sixers this past season, it seemed his departure via free agency was inevitable. In the weeks leading up to the opening of free agency, Milton was rumored to desire a more significant role elsewhere. The idea of the Sixers retaining Milton couldn’t be totally ruled out — but Milton was more than likely headed for a change.

That will indeed be the case. After wrapping up his tenure with the Sixers, Milton will join Minnesota on a two-year deal, per ESPN.