Is Shake Milton the Sixers new starting point guard?
The Shake Milton hype train has been building steam for quite a while now, but it’s about to shoot off into the stratosphere. During Monday’s media availability, Brett Brown told reporters that Ben Simmons has been starting at the four during practices in Orlando, while Shake Milton has taken over as the team’s starting point guard.
Headline from Brett Brown’s media availability is his claim that he has exclusively played Ben Simmons at the four over the last few days of practice
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) July 13, 2020
Shake Milton has been the starting PG during the Sixers practices with Ben Simmons starting at point forward.
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 13, 2020
I never thought I’d see the day.
Simmons is a borderline top-five point guard, but this is a move that makes life easier for the rest of the roster. It just goes to show how serious Simmons was when speaking about his comfortability with screening in the pick and roll. He’s even gone as far to say, “This move is actually going to be even better than being the starting point guard.”
Milton is the type of guard the Sixers have been missing over the past few seasons. Over the last nine games prior to the league’s suspension, Milton averaged 17.8 points per game and 4.8 assists on 60.4% shooting from three. While it may be a small sample and that type of production is unsustainable, it’s a glimpse of what Milton has to offer. He’ll provide Simmons and Joel Embiid with a pick and roll/pick and pop initiator while spacing out the floor; something the duo have sorely needed.
The team has been singing Milton’s praise throughout practices in Orlando. Embiid has already said Milton has looked “amazing” in practice as the starting point guard. Brown admits he’s nervous to lean on a young guy, but is excited to see what Milton can do. “I’m going into this excited, I think some of the performances he had on a consistent basis can’t be that far out of reach, where maybe he can produce a large portion of that again,” said Brown.
With Milton now at the one, any ideas of Al Horford in the starting lineup should permanently be put to bed. The rest of the lineup around Milton and Simmons is expected to look like Milton-Richardson-Harris-Simmons-Embiid. This lineup looks much more modern than the lumbering giants we saw throughout the regular season. Rather than gears grinding against each other, the Sixers can now finally feel like a well oiled machine.
It is fair to wonder how long Milton’s leash will be in Orlando. Brown has a long history of leaning on veterans, so putting Milton in this position is already outside of the norm. Milton is only 23 and – in his two seasons in the NBA – has only started 16 games. If Milton looks shakey in Orlando, Brown could be quick to pull him in favor of someone like Alec Burks, or move Simmons back to the one.
