II: Shake Milton
The Minnesota Timberwolves have a great ‘feel’ for other NBA players, and it’s quite clear that they feel that young combination guard Shake Milton could play a major role in the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Entering his sixth season in the NBA, Milton has exclusively competed for the Philadelphia 76ers to this point in his career. And while he has been primarily a player who has come in from the bench, he had been tasked with filling in for injured teammates, starting 45 games for the Sixers over five seasons. Over that time, he has been listed as a shooting guard.
But don’t the Timberwolves have plenty of those? From starting SG Anthony Edwards to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, to Wendell Moore Jr., and finally to rookie SG Jaylen Clark, the Timberwolves are swimming in shooting guards.
That is why I believe that the Minnesota Timberwolves truly see point guard potential in Shake Milton. Now the question is, does he see point guard potential in himself? I think that the answer to that question is yes. Yes, he does.
When reviewing his 2022-23 NBA season game logs, there was a stretch when he averaged more than 25 minutes per game: From Game 11 vs. the Milwaukee Bucks to Game 20 vs. the Houston Rockets. Over that span of games, he averaged 19.6 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 5.8 assists per game. So how does that span compare to the Timberwolves stats from the 2022-23 season?
- D’Angelo Russell – 6.2 assists per game
- (Projected) Shake Milton – 5.8 assists per game
- Mike Conley Jr. – 5.0 assists per game
- Kyle Anderson – 4.9 assists per game
- Jordan McLaughlin – 3.4 assists per game
Of course, that is how Shake Milton projects in the Minnesota Timberwolves roster. What happens if he fails to deliver to those projections?
Well, as we noted, the Timberwolves simply have a glut of shooting guards, which is exactly what a non-point guard Shake Milton becomes to the Timberwolves. With rookie Jaylen Clark healing up and looking for playing time right around the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline, the Timberwolves will want to vacate some minutes in the rotation to give Clark a shot at seeing some action.
If Shake Milton fails to deliver, the Timberwolves could put him on the trade block. But there is one more player who has even been named by ESPN analysts as a name to watch at the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline. And he is . . .