Shake Milton has had some of the oddest minutes in the past few games for the Sixers. He goes from playing 16 minutes on Jan 17 to 30 minutes on Jan 21. His inconsistent playing time has not hindered his play though. In the month of January, Milton is averaging 8.8 points, 3.5 assists, and 2.6 rebounds per game. With so much fluctuation in playing time, it is incredible that Milton has still been able to produce for the 76ers.
Shake Milton, the fifth-year Sixers out of SMU, has had an up-and-down career for Philadelphia. Milton played in 20 games in his rookie year, a pretty good feat for a player drafted 54th overall in his draft. After that, he started garnering even more playing time in the bubble, even hitting a game-winner in the bubble after a slight beef with Joel Embiid.
The next season, under then-new Head Coach Doc Rivers, Shake Milton reached a new level. Averaging 13.0 points per game on 45.0/35.0/83.0 shooting splits, Milton had high praise from head coach Doc Rivers. He performed so well this season that he even received a second-place vote for Sixth Man of the Year. Things seemed extremely bright for the guard, that was passed on 53 times in the NBA draft.
However, since that season, Milton has had to deal with injuries that derailed promising a promising campaign in the 2021-2022 season. Mixing that with health and safety protocols, someone can understand why his stats got lower in the following season.
That brings us to now. Where Shake Milton, finally healthy, has to fight with minutes thanks to the expansions added to the bench for Philadelphia. Milton, when he receives the playing time, regularly shows that he is an extremely skilled and talented NBA player. Whether or not his minutes get more consistent, or if he keeps playing different amounts, Sixers fans should have comfort knowing that he can perform in any number of minutes.
