Shake Milton thankful Sixers helped him ‘figure out how to stick’ in NBA

MINNEAPOLIS — Shake Milton misfired on a three-pointer from the right corner but was ready to get the ball back in the same spot when Anthony Edwards collected the offensive rebound. Milton launched the shot again, watching it go splash in front of the 76ers’ bench.

That was an example of Milton’s aggressiveness that Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch emphasized before Wednesday’s matchup against the Sixers. The result: the combo guard’s highest-scoring performance of the season came against his former team, with 12 points off the bench on 3-of-7 shooting in the Timberwolves’ 112-99 victory at the Target Center.

It was part of Milton’s fresh start after spending his first five NBA seasons with the Sixers organization, before signing as a free agent with an 11-3 Minnesota team that currently sits atop the Western Conference on Thanksgiving.

“I just felt like this would be a good opportunity, and so far, it has been,” Milton said from the Timberwolves’ shootaround before Wednesday’s game. “I love it out here, being in Minnesota, the people, the staff members. Just coming to work every day is really enjoyable. And we’re winning, too. You’ve got to love all three of those things.”

It’s been a week of reunions for the Sixers. Tuesday night, Georges Niang returned to the Wells Fargo Center for the first time and was a key contributor in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ overtime win. Saturday, the Sixers will see Isaiah Joe, now a sharpshooter for an Oklahoma City Thunder team that is also one of the West’s pleasant surprises at 11-4.

» READ MORE: Former Sixer Georges Niang appreciative in return to Philly: ‘It felt like home while I was here’

Yet Milton was the longest-tenured Sixer of that trio, developing from a two-way player to an NBA mainstay. He unleashed a 39-point outburst in 2020. He was the starting point guard during the “bubble” restart. He put together a fantastic stretch around this time last year, when Tyrese Maxey and James Harden were out with foot injuries, scoring more than 20 points in five of six games while averaging 6.7 assists and 6.3 rebounds.

Milton, though, never established consistency during his final two seasons in Philly. That was partially due to an array of injuries. It also was partially due to Maxey’s rapid ascension and the acquisition of Harden. By last spring’s playoffs, Milton was out of the rotation, signaling his time with the Sixers might be winding down.

Conversations with Finch and Minnesota president of basketball operations Tim Connelly at the start of free agency sold Milton on his new team. Wednesday morning, he praised the roster’s versatile group of finishers, shooters, and creators. He added he has aimed to push the pace in transition and impact the game as a scorer and facilitator, recognizing his exact role might look different depending on the game flow or matchup.

Though the numbers — 39.3% shooting from the floor, 24.3% from three-point range, and only two double-digit scoring efforts in the 13 games entering Wednesday — illustrate a clunky start while getting acclimated to a new team, Finch said he is “extremely happy with Shake.”

“I grew the most is just coming into my own, knowing who I am, knowing what I want, and being able to carry myself in a certain way.”

“It’s a little bit about feeling your way through it,” Milton added. “But I think it’s also just stepping in and kind of inserting yourself in there and really just being aggressive and figuring the rest of it out as it goes. I feel like my job is just to go as hard as I can, and kind of have [the] coach kind of directly tell me what he sees and what he wants. You can’t really be shy or timid about it.”

That statement echoes Finch’s most recent messaging for Milton to break away from the coach’s assessment that “he’s fit in right away — almost too much.” Though impressed with Milton’s playmaking — which he flashed shortly after entering Wednesday’s game with an alley-oop lob to Naz Reid to put the Timberwolves up 12 points — Finch said he has been “pushing” Milton to look more for his shot.

He recorded his first points Wednesday from the free-throw line, where he finished the game 5-of-6. He hit a pull-up jumper in the lane that set up a Mike Conley steal, which gave the Timberwolves a 37-18 lead in the final minute of the first quarter. Later, Milton sank a floater that put Minnesota up 78-66 in the third. And then came the corner three-pointer buried in front of old teammates, which pushed Minnesota’s lead to 14 points late in the period.

Milton acknowledged Wednesday morning that he had not closely followed the Sixers’ start to the season. When asked about the Harden trade, Milton referenced the Ben Simmons saga from 2021 by saying, “Shoot, I was used to that, that type of turmoil day in and day out.” When Maxey scored 50 points less than two weeks ago, Milton “definitely hit him on that.” And before Wednesday’s tipoff, Milton shared smiles and handshakes with Maxey, Tobias Harris, and Paul Reed.

When reflecting on his time with the Sixers, Milton said he most appreciates how it helped him “figure out how to stick” in the NBA. That ultimately led him to his fresh start in Minnesota.

“When you first come in the League, you’re just fighting to find your niche,” Milton said. " … That’s the hardest part. And then going from G League to the league and continuing to get reps and continuing to build confidence in yourself and your capabilities.

“I think that’s kind of where I grew the most is just coming into my own, knowing who I am, knowing what I want, and being able to carry myself in a certain way.”