Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts against the Milwaukee Bucks in the fourth quarter at the Wells Fargo Center on November 18, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 76ers defeated the Bucks 110-102.
The Philadelphia 76ers are inching closer to getting healthy with James Harden set to make his return to the court. Joel Embiid also rejoined the team after his four-game absence and Tyrese Maxey is out of his walking boot and beginning his return-to-play process. One of the unforeseen positive takeaways of the shorthanded stretch was the strong play of several members of the bench unit. At the top of this list is Shake Milton who was vital to the Sixers navigating the undermanned stretch with his strong play. Doc Rivers was asked about cutting down the rotation moving forward but the coach assured that Milton has earned an expanded role. As he put it following the loss to the Grizzlies:
“We’re deep. So everybody is not going to play. But certain guys will and Shake [Milton] will be one of them…There’s always a competition going on, a competition for minutes and Shake has proven that he should play. Hopefully that continues, you know? Can he play this role with shorter minutes? That’s what happens. Guys get a lot of minutes and they can play. They get shorter minutes and sometimes they can’t. But he will be able to. Shake is just another guard. We know we can use him, so that’s really good,” per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Milton’s Strong Play
No player on the Sixers roster needed this expanded opportunity more than Milton. The former Sixth Man started the season completely outside the rotation which included not getting any time on the court in four of the first five games. He has run with the chance to play as the lead guard and flashed some notable layers he added to his game.
Over the past 10 games, Milton is averaging 18.7 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.5 rebounds. He also has shot an efficient 54.6% from the field and 43.2% from beyond the three-point arc. The SMU product has looked more aggressive on his drives and has made better use of his length when finishing around the basket.
His growth as a playmaker and rebounder is especially noteworthy. Showing abilities outside of his scoring makes him more valuable especially considering how lacking this Sixers roster is in playmaking outside of Harden. Coach Rivers has also noticed this and put it following a recent victory over the magic in which Milton came just one rebound shy of a triple-double, “(Shake) was great. Good decision-making, solid, best I’ve seen him pass. Ever. He’s always been a scorer, but right now, Shake’s doing more. He made two defensive plays, got his hands in, and got a steal, a tie-up. Rebounding the ball and making the right decisions. It’s really great to see,” per Ky Carlin of SixersWire.
Finding Minutes for Milton
The more complicated issue surrounding giving Milton more minutes is finding where they come from when the team is at full strength. Harden is averaging 36.8 minutes per game while Maxey is averaging 36.4 minutes per game on the season. While it may be a good idea to scale this back to some extent, the two guards will continue to play the bulk of the time on the court due to their offensive brilliance.
De’Anthony Melton has also emerged as a crucial part of the rotation due to his defensive ability. He is currently averaging a career-high 28.3 minutes per game although this will likely decrease some once the team returns to full health as well.
Felt like Shake Milton played an almost perfect 39 minutes last night –
Handled the rock and got his teammates the ball where they can be themselves … and scored at will when his squad was depending on him.
Big reason why PHI overcame an early deficit and eventually beat ATL.
Milton is at his best with the ball in his hands and these opportunities will not be nearly as easy to come by moving forward. However, if he can find his niche in the rotation as a secondary guard to Harden or Maxey it could benefit the team greatly. He has played 72 or fewer minutes with each guy so far this season so how these duos will work is still relatively unproven.
It is a more difficult challenge than many make it out to be, but great to see Rivers committing to ensuring he will find minutes for Milton. He also has shown intriguing chemistry with Embiid which is something the Sixers should also keep in mind moving forward. The 26-year-old has flashed to be a good player and the Sixers will need his production. If he can maintain this level of play alongside the Sixers stars, Milton could grow into a crucial part of the rotation this season.