The Philadelphia 76ers are shaking things up, literally.
Bad puns aside, the Sixers are moving Shake Milton into the starting lineup as the point guard as they plan to become a much faster team on the offensive side of the ball. The plan is for Milton to come in and provide a lot of shooting to space the floor as well as being able to utilize Ben Simmons more off the ball.
So far in practice in Orlando, Milton has been much more aggressive on the offensive end and he has become more vocal. That type of work ethic can be emulated by everybody and he has caught the attention of his veteran teammates including Glenn Robinson III.
“Shake’s going to be Shake,” said Robinson III. “I think he’s doing a great job of not letting the media and not letting different distractions affect his game. He comes and he works hard every day, putting up shots, putting in work every single day so I’m proud of him.”
It is that type of work ethic that has turned Milton from an afterthought in the league to now a starter on a title contender. He began turning heads in late February when he had to take on more playing time with injuries to Simmons and Josh Richardson and he did not look back. He shot 51.2% from deep over the final 20 games leading into the league suspension and he scored 39 points on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“Against the Clippers, he was scoring 39 and that’s him,” Robinson III added. “He’s got that chip on his shoulder and he’ll continue to prove that that’s him on a nightly basis. He may not score 39 every game, but that type of caliber player is who he is and I believe in Shake.”
Glenn Robinson III praises Shake Milton for his work ethic #Sixers pic.twitter.com/HPOUwZbVUb
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) July 20, 2020
Milton is a guy who continues to be one of the hardest workers in the league. He is a guy who puts in a tremendous amount of work before and after practice and that’s something that Robinson III did not know about the second-year man out of SMU.
“That’s been him since I got here and as far as I know, he’s been working like that throughout his whole career,” the veteran forward added. “We’ve got a lot of high-level guys that put in the work.”
Milton will need to continue to keep working and help the Sixers on their quest for a championship. He could be the missing piece to a starting lineup that badly needed help on the offensive end in order to spread the floor. This could unlock a lot of new dynamics that the team can offer. [lawrence-related id=35065,35058,35050]