The Philadelphia 76ers have their sixth man in Shake Milton.
This offseason is full of questions for the Philadelphia 76ers and their new head coach Doc Rivers. Figuring out the bench rotation among the players under contract for next season should be on Rivers’ checklist for this early portion of the offseason.
During Rivers’ tenure as the Los Angeles Clippers head coach, he always had a strong bench units lead by an elite sixth man. Jamal Crawford was the first to lead those units and then Lou Williams took over that role. Those two are arguable the two best sixth men in NBA history with six Sixth Men of the Year awards between the two of them. Each player has three titles which is tied for the most ever among anyone who has won that award.
Rivers should try to duplicate that same formula with the Sixers. Luckily for the veteran head coach, he already has a player tailor-made for the role. I’ve mentioned this before on multiple The Sixers Sense Podcasts that Shake Milton should be used as a sixth man under Rivers.
Milton can be an elite sixth man for the Sixers.
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Milton broke onto the season late last season and one of the teams he torched were the Clippers lead by Rivers. The Sixers head coach knows first hand about Milton’s scoring ability and made sure to mention it in his introductory press conference.
Last season, Milton averaged 9.4 points and 2.4 assists, while converting 43.0 percent of his 3-pointers. It was certainly a breakout season considering that during his rookie year the season before he was playing on a two-way contract in the G-League for the Delaware Blue Coats.
Despite showing real potential as a scorer, Milton is far from a finished product and needs time to further develop. He can take his time developing by coming off the bench where he can be the primary option against relatively weaker defenses.
It’s true he could be in the starting five and do well enough in that role. However, his ability to create for himself would be best utilized in the second unit where he would have the ball in his hands a good portion of the time. If he remains a starter, then he would have to defer more often to Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and even Josh Richardson in some cases.
He fits the mold as a score-first combo guard, so why not have him come off the bench and wreck the opposing team’s second units. Rivers could have him close out games with the starters to still have the best overall talent on the floor.
Unlike Crawford and Williams, Milton has the tools to be solid defensively so he won’t be exploited by opposing offensives on defense. He’s an ideal candidate to be Sixers’ sixth man next year.
Rivers could make the Philadelphia 76ers’ second unit a force to be reckoned with if he moves Milton to a sixth man role heading into next season.