Philadelphia 76ers: Shake Milton didn’t impress in preseason start

One of the biggest takeaways from the Philadelphia 76ers second preseason matchup was that their second year combo guard didn’t shine.

For some players in the NBA, it’s all about making the most of their opportunities, because there aren’t a lot of those. Shake Milton recently got a great opportunity to start in the Philadelphia 76ers second preseason matchup against the Charlotte Hornets. Sadly, Milton didn’t “wow” in his first opportunity to start.

The second year combo guard drew the start when the team decided to have starting center Joel Embiid rest for the matchup. The Sixers started Ben Simmons, Milton, Richardson, Tobias Harris and Al Horford for the contest.

Sadly, Milton was the least productive of the starting five. He had the lowest point total and was the only one that failed to score in double-digits. He was also the only starter to have a negative Plus/Minus score. He ended the contest with four points, one rebound, one assist and one foul, while going 2-5 from the floor and 0-2 from the 3-point line.

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This was a blown opportunity for Milton. The combo guard has a lot of talented players vying for playing time ahead of him this season. At the point guard spot, Trey Burke and Raul Neto are his competition for minutes at that position. Matisse Thybulle, James Ennis, Zhaire Smith and Furkan Korkmaz are also in the shooting guard depth chart with Milton. This was the biggest opportunity in Milton’s career to make a positive impression on the coaching staff and he failed to capitalize.

He didn’t get very many opportunities to play with the Sixers last season, because he was on a two-way contract and was playing for their G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, the majority of the season. Whenever Milton did play for the 76ers, he averaged 13.4 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists, while converting 39.1 percent of his field goal attempts and 31.8 percent of his 3-pointers in 20 games.

In terms of his potential role on the Sixers, it doesn’t matter that Milton had a great season with the Blue Coats last year. He needed to have a very productive game against the Hornets this preseason and he failed to do that. There’s a chance that he won’t get another opportunity like this again this season.

The good news for Milton is that he’s on a four-year contract, so he probably will get another chance to prove himself to head coach Brett Brown and the coaching staff at some point. However, if he had proven himself in the game against Charlotte, then he could have been in the running for minutes off the bench early this season.

In the immediate short term, Milton failing to impress in the Philadelphia 76ers preseason matchup against the Hornets certainly won’t help him gain positive traction on the depth chart. Luckily for Milton, his contract will allow him to have another chance at some point in the future. He can’t afford to squander his next opportunity when it comes.