Philadelphia 76ers: Picking up Shake Milton’s option was the right call

When Keith Pompey reported that the Philadelphia 76ers were planning on declining Shake Milton‘s team option outright if they couldn’t find a trade, it left a bad taste in many a mouth across the Delaware Valley.

Is Milton a perfect player? Hardly; he’s a bad defender and an icy-hot scorer who can sometimes play himself off of the court as a result. But when the Sixers needed a spark in the second round of the 2022 NBA playoffs, it was Milton who rubbed the sticks together and did his darndest to turn nothing into something, as Hellman’s would say.

Factor in his improvements as a passer and his willingness to play a complementary role alongside James Harden instead of dominating the ball, and you have a player who may not be on a one-way track to a max contract but is still valuable as a fourth guard.

Fortunately, the Philadelphia 76ers felt the same way, as, according to Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice, the team had officially picked up his option for the 2022-23 NBA season. While that doesn’t guarantee that Shake Milton will be back this fall, as he could be traded, it’s certainly the correct call.

The Philadelphia 76ers made the right call on Shake Milton.

Shake Milton’s role has changed considerably over his run with the Philadelphia 76ers. He went from a two-way deal player to a four-year contract, from being told he was out of Brett Brown’s rotation to an offensive focal point before the 2019-20 season pre-association shutdown, and then settled into a sixth man role both before and after the emergence of Tyrese Maxey.

Now, heading into his fifth professional season, Milton finds himself in a new role yet again: Fourth guard. Milton isn’t going to start over Maxey, he isn’t going to start over James Harden, and even the first guard off the bench role probably won’t be open to the SMU product either, as that role now belongs to De’Anthony Melton, a name who definitely won’t cause confusion among dads across the region.

On paper, Melton should slot into the role filled by Milton/Furkan Korkmaz during the 2021-22 season once Harden came to town. He can play off of either of the team’s starting backcourt players as a 3-and-D combo guard, potentially even play alongside both of the starting guards with the right player slotted in at the four, and should easily produce a positive net rating for 28-ish minutes per game.

What Melton isn’t ideally suited to do, however, is make plays on the ball as a high-usage lead guard, as he’s more of a two-way version of Seth Curry than a two-way version of Shake Milton. While Melton’s ball-handling makes things incredibly interesting, as he can add a unique off-ball dynamic next to Harden that is different but no less exciting than Maxey, he isn’t ideally suited to run a second unit.

Milton, by contrast, is. No, he’s isn’t a traditional point guard like Elfrid Payton or T.J. McConnell, who has a natural feel for setting up his teammates, but as the past season went on, Milton became more and more comfortable as a facilitator, prioritizing the efficiency of his offense over getting up as many shots as possible. When needed, he could still get his, as Game 6 versus Miami clearly showcased, but it seemed like Milton fully understood that shooting can be streaky but facilitating is the easiest way to stay on the court.

With point guard a deceptive need this offseason, getting improved on-ball play out of Milton could solve a big problem and payoff down the line, even if it requires Milton to play his fewest minutes per game since 2018-19.

In the modern-day NBA, finding a 6-foot-5 combo guard who can shoot, score, dribble, and drive is incredibly valuable. They can play any position one through three, work in seemingly any lineup without giving up too much size, and provide utility both on and off the ball, depending on what a team needs. Even if Shake Milton never becomes more than a one-way performer who averages, say, 18 minutes per game, the Philadelphia 76ers were wise to keep him around for at least one more season, as the 25-year-old is just entering his prime and still adding to his bag of tricks.