Sixers' Shake Milton is Taking Advantage of His Second Chance

The Philadelphia 76ers have dealt with an unfavorable amount of injuries this season. To make matters worse, a majority of the injuries have occurred to a number of starters later on in the year. Early on, however, one of their most notable injuries happened to the reserve guard, Shake Milton.

After going down with a knee injury early on in the year, Milton would quickly see his already limited amount of minutes fade away. As he battled with Raul Neto and Trey Burke for backup playing time at guard, Sixers' head coach Brett Brown never seemed confident enough to go back to the second-year SMU product.

Later on down the line, that would change, though. At first, it seemed as if Shake Milton was becoming the unlucky one on the team. While the Sixers were finished with the Trey Burke experiment as they cut him, and continued to leave Neto riding the pine, perhaps there was a chance Milton picks up some playing time.

But a trade with the Golden State Warriors at the deadline forced Brett Brown to make a tough decision. Knowing his general manager, Elton Brand, sent multiple draft picks out West for two serviceable wings/ball-handlers in Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, the Sixers head coach knew he had to do all he could to utilize those guys.

Therefore, he had to make a tough decision regarding Shake Milton. As the Sixers came back from the NBA All-Star break, each player was given a truthful assessment along with a roadmap of what their role is going to be moving forward as the season winds down.

Shake Was Out of the Rotation?

In an attempt to figure out his official nine-man playoff rotation, Brown told the backup guard Shake Milton he is out. "My discussion with Shake is, 'you're not playing," Brown said following Sunday's game against the Clippers. "You are not in the rotation. I'm going with Alec [Burks], Josh Richardson, and Ben Simmons. You have to stay ready and this is your role, just so that we're nice and clear."

Not too long after that meeting, Sixers' All-Star guard Ben Simmons went down with a significant back injury, which forced him to continue missing time. After seeing what he saw out of Milton during February's stretch of games, Brown didn't hesitate to throw in the mix with Simmons out.

Now, the Sixers' newest temporary starting point guard is not only doing a solid job in the absence of Simmons, but he's also making a strong case to remain in the rotation he was initially out of when the Sixers' All-Star guard returns from his injury.

Since Simmons went down officially during the Milwaukee game, Milton managed to drop 17 points, while draining five of his seven attempted threes. During the next four games, Milton started and averaged 21 points-per-game, while sinking 63-percent of his shots from three. While the Sixers lost in their most recent matchup against the Clippers, Milton still shined as he drained a career-high of 39 points.

The Sixers aren't perfect, and still have tons of questions that need answering before they make it to the postseason. At the very least, though, Brett Brown and the team can feel confident knowing their second-rounder from last season is really developing into a player that can make a difference when he's out on the floor. It's a good thing the Sixers didn't actually give up on Milton when they were about to, because he's quickly becoming one of their more reliable players as their stars continue to heal up.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_