2. Shake Milton
Shake Milton appeared to price himself out of Philadelphia with a strong early-season run during the period where both James Harden and Tyrese Maxey were injured. He played quite well once those guys returned, albeit in a significantly reduced capacity. By the time the playoffs arrived, however, Milton was glued to the bench.
Whether he should have played or not, one has to imagine a team will swing on Milton’s unique combination of size, shot-making, and positional versatility in free agency. The Sixers simply don’t have a lot of money to spend and clearly Milton wasn’t considered an important piece of the rotation down the stretch.
Harden’s future is uncertain, but the Sixers still have a lot of backcourt minutes committed to Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton regardless. Milton’s ability to hit tough shots has value, but he’s not the ideal Sixers guard on paper: he’s a low-volume 3-point shooter who can fade into the shadows off the ball
He’d probably get better opportunities elsewhere; perhaps a chance to earn an even bigger next contract. Shake has given a lot to Philly over the course of his career, but a change of scenery feels inevitable.