Philadelphia 76ers: What is Shake Milton’s trade value?

Ah Shake Milton, sweet, sweet Shake Milton; is any a player on the Philadelphia 76ers harder to quantify?

(Yes, I know Ben Simmons is still technically on the team, don’t @ me.)

In one game, Milton looks like an absolute offensive star who can drain unassisted 3s, embrace contact in the lane, and pull up for points from anywhere. In these games, like Milton’s coming out part versus Doc Rivers‘ Clippers pre-Bubble, he looks like the sort of player who can start on virtually any team league-wide or produce some serious pop as a sparkplug off the bench.

But then Milton turns in games like, well, like the Sixers’ entire series against Washington, and one has to wonder if he’ll ever be consistent enough to contribute to a very good team as more than anything but a one-way middle-bench player who can’t be reliably counted on in the playoffs.

So naturally, with trade-a-palooza in full effect around this part of town, why not ask a question that could impact the Philadelphia 76ers’ potential asset pool moving forward: What is Shake Milton’s trade value?

Does Shake Milton add value to a potential Philadelphia 76ers’ trade package?

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Alright, so right from the top, yes, technically every player has trade value, especially a 24-year-old on year three of a bargain bin rookie contract worth $6.99 million over four years. If you call up literally any team in the league, they’ll surely have some player they’d happily exchange for Shake Milton, as his contract is exceedingly tradeable.

The Golden State Warriors would happily trade Gary Payton Jr. for Milton, as would the New Orleans Pelicans with Wesley Iwundu, the Boston Celtics with Carsen Edwards, and even the Brooklyn Nets with a player like Alize Johnson.

If Daryl Morey really wants to pull off a trade for any of those players or someone similar, have at it hoss, but honestly, that would be more of a salary dump than trading out a scorer for a rim protector or an expert defender.

Every team in the NBA has some position they would like to improve and thus have assets they are willing to surrender to fill it. Just ask the Dallas Mavericks, who wanted some additional wing defense and auxiliary playmaking and were willing to trade away three years of Seth Curry for Josh Richardson and a second-round pick.

Fortunately, we aren’t talking about shipping out Shake for an unwanted bench piece, a failed lottery pick, or to procure additional second-round picks. No, if the Sixers opt to shop Milton this offseason, it’ll be either A. as a throw-in piece as part of a bigger trade or B. as part of a package to secure a better player.

Does either option make sense? That, my friends, is the $6.99 million question.

In theory, Milton should have a good bit of value to the right team in the right scenario. He scored double-digit points in 44 games for the Philadelphia 76ers last season and could always become more consistent if paired up with an offensive facilitator who can get him better looks. Whether you’re a team looking to hit the reset button on your franchise or a squad looking to re-tool on the fly with Simmons serving as a do-it-all defender paired up with a supreme offensive option, there should be a spot for Milton anywhere in the Association, as he’s the perfect mixture of young, cheap, and intriguing.

But just how much does Milton actually play into that equation? While he’s unquestionably a player any team would like to some degree, is his inclusion in a trade a substitute for a first-round pick? A second-round pick? Two? Could the Sixers say, “we want to keep Matisse Thybulle, but we’ll give you Shake Milton instead,” and an opposing GM concurs that the value is comparable?

Personally, I don’t think that’s the case.

At 24, Milton is six months older than Thybulle, 10 months older than Furkan Korkmaz – who is a free agent and thus can only be sign-and-traded – and a full four years older than Tyrese Maxey. Even if he still has room to grow, Milton doesn’t do anything at an elite level at this point in his career – unlike Thybulle, who is already an elite defender, blocker, and stealer – and may never become more than what he is right now, aka a streaky scorer who really needs to put in more effort on the defensive end of the court.

Even if Milton could be the missing piece needed to really cement a trade offer if Morey is close, his value probably isn’t as high in, say, Portland as it is with the Sixers. Outside coaches – save members of the Sixers’ 2018-20 coaching staff – don’t know Milton’s work ethic, strengths, and weaknesses outside of what they can see on tape and thus may simplify the complexities down to a simple collection of stats both advanced and basic.

Alternatively, the Sixers could opt to trade Milton in a package to acquire a better-fitting piece a la the acquisition of Curry – maybe a stretch four who can contribute on the boards – but that again feels fairly fruitless. Unless the team’s trading Milton as part of a larger package, say, maybe alongside their first-round pick and George Hill in a sign-and-trade for Lonzo Ball (or whomever), getting 13 points per game out of the former SMU combo guard may be more valuable than any sort of straight-up offer the NBA has to, well, offer.

Bobby Portis went from making $15 million in one season with the Knicks to a two-year, $7.4M million deal with the Minnesota Bucks after a “down year” in New York only to completely outperform his contract in the lead up to what could be a very lucrative summer for the Arkansas native (more on that here). If that same situation happened with Milton, it would be just another knock against the Sixers’ ability to evaluate, develop, and keep young talent, which hasn’t been great in the post-Hinkie, pre-Morey-era.

Will Shake Milton ultimately be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers when the season opens up this fall? I’d venture to say yes. While he could surely find himself shipped out for another role player or – more realistically – as part of a bigger trade package alongside one of the team’s max contract players, Milton’s external value may not be quite high enough to receive just compensation versus what he can produce on the court when things are clicking. Better to hope Milton figures it all out as a member of the Sixers than to cash out before he does on another team.