With the NBA getting set to resume the 2019-20 season, the Philadelphia 76ers have a few questions that need to be answered. One of those is the role of Shake Milton who was playing the best basketball of his career before the league went into suspension.
Milton is expected to be counted on a bit more as the season gets set to resume as he could possibly be in the starting lineup replacing Al Horford in an effort to get more shooting and playmaking on the floor.
In any case, he will most likely share more floor time with Ben Simmons in an effort to get him rolling more towards the basket rather than as a ball-handler. Milton is ready to play with the All-Star guard more frequently now that he has the chance.
“I feel like it will be easy,” Milton said of playing with Simmons. “Ben’s a very unselfish player, he can pass the ball, he can finish, we can play pick-and-roll together, I can spot-up while he creates and does his thing. Playing with Ben is going to make the game a lot easier for anybody so I don’t see it being a problem.”
Milton was shooting 51.2% from deep in the final 20 games heading into the league suspension. Break it down to the final nine games before the suspension, he shot a blistering 60.4% from deep that is something that he feels like he can carry with him down to Orlando and become a legitimate threat on this team. In fact, he even received a vote of confidence from Simmons about how strong he played heading into the break.
“I definitely feel more confident,” he finished with. “I would say it’s probably stemming from the fact that playing those last nine games with those guys out gave me the opportunity to kind of go out there and test things and really explore my game and I feel like for any player, when they’re given an opportunity to do something like that, then I feel like you’re going to see growth anywhere.”
It will be tough to get back going at full speed after so much time being off, but he feels good.
“I feel good,” Milton explained. “I feel ready to go. Of course, everybody’s had their time off and it’s going to be a little different trying to get back in the swing of things. Overall, my body feels good, I feel healthy, and I’m just excited.”
The Sixers will begin their scrimmage schedule on July 24 against the Memphis Grizzlies before officially resuming against the Indiana Pacers on August 1. [lawrence-related id=34215,34206,34197]