Philadelphia 76ers: Shake Milton deserves a playoff roster spot over Greg Monroe

Despite signing Greg Monroe to an end-of-the-season deal, the Philadelphia 76ers should still convert Shake Milton’s two-way contract before the playoffs.

Despite securing his rights in the Jimmy Butler–Minnesota Timberwolves trade, it quickly became abundantly clear that Justin Patton was not long for the Philadelphia 76ers‘ roster.

After being selected 16th overall in the 2016 NBA draft, the still 21-year-old center only appeared in four games over three professional seasons, missing over 240 games due to a myriad of injuries.

Sure, he played reasonably well for the Delaware Blue Coats this season; appearing in 11 games, but after only logging 20 minutes over the last month despite Joel Embiid missing 12 games since the All-Star game, it was clear he was the least likely candidate to remain with the team moving forward.

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And on April third, the Sixers made it official by waving Patton to sign veteran journeyman Greg Monroe to an end-of-the-season contract.

On paper, this move makes sense, as Embiid’s minutes will be restricted down the stretch due to ‘load management’, and the team has been woefully inconsistent, but that’s about it.

As things presently stand, the Sixers have four centers on their roster, with a fifth if you count Jonah Bolden who’s technically a power forward. With only 15 players allowed on the active roster at any given time, that’s kind of superfluous.

But, what if this move isn’t one with long-term implications, and is instead a stopgap? What if come April 10th the Sixers opt to wave Monroe and instead fill their 15th roster spot with Shake Milton?

I mean think about it, Milton has been an on-again-off-again contributor for the Sixers over the last month with fairly impressive results; more or less filling Landry Shamet‘s shoes while averaging 5.6  points a night in about 18 minutes of action.

While he’s still a work-in-progress, Milton has shown that he’s more than capable of playing both shooting guard and point guard in Brett Brown‘s scheme, which could be a significant boost to a team with only two point guards on the roster (T.J. McConnell being the only conventional point guard).

As we’ve seen over the last few months, the Sixers’ biggest problems have and likely will continue to be their outside shooting and backcourt defense. While having Monroe available is a nice boost, he doesn’t help with either of those issues even a little bit.

Milton, on the other hand, is at least a competent outside shooter and can handle some auxiliary ball-handling duties if needed.

Sure, could Zhaire Smith technically fill that reserve guard role? Yes, he definitely deserves more playing time in these last few games,  but for how much better he’s looked recently as compared to over the summer, it’s a bit naive to expect him to take over ball-handling duties after never playing point guard.

In any sport, especially one where some players are inactive on game day, having reserves who can play multiple positions and fill multiple roles is essential in case of injury and foul issues. Though Greg Monroe fills a clear role at the moment, in helping the Sixers maintain their spot as the third seed in the East, it’s clear Shake Milton has greater upside in a playoff series and deserves a nod for that 15th roster spot.