In the early days of Minnesota Timberwolves training camp and the preseason, a theme emerged in the coaches’ conversations after each practice. As Chris Finch and his cohorts started to envision the rotation and, importantly, how the second unit could support a talented starting five, one name just kept coming up over and over.
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Shake Milton’s two-year, $10 million contract with the Wolves on the first day of free agency may not have caused shockwaves around the league when the agreement was reached in June, but the fit between player and need has been better than even those involved in recruiting him away from Philadelphia expected.
The Wolves needed perimeter scoring off the bench. They also wanted a heady playmaker who could serve as a backup point guard and someone who could play the pick-and-roll with Rudy Gobert. So far, Milton is checking all of those boxes.
“We’ve talked a lot about him internally and been so happy and surprised, even better than we thought he could be,” Finch said after Milton had 12 points and four rebounds in the preseason-opening win over Dallas last week.
The instant connection is exactly what Milton was looking for when he entered free agency after spending five seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers. A second-round pick out of SMU, Milton had to scratch and claw his way into the Sixers’ plans by honing his playmaking with Delaware in the G League and then capitalizing when unexpected opportunities came his way in the NBA.
He had some big scoring nights in Philly and even started four playoff games as a 23-year-old in 2019-20. But he gradually saw his role reduced as more high-profile guards like Tyrese Maxey and James Harden came along. He was out of the rotation altogether during the Sixers’ disappointing playoff run last season but should have no trouble finding minutes now that he’s in Minnesota.
One of the missing pieces for the Wolves last season was a reliable scoring guard off the bench. They had high hopes for Jaylen Nowell to be able to both get buckets and make plays for his teammates in a combo guard role, but Nowell never could put it all together. Nowell shot just 29 percent from 3-point range, had a two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio and struggled as a defender, prompting Finch to go to him only in case of emergency.
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When the Wolves entered the market with precious little spending power, they knew they had to target versatile players capable of filling multiple roles. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly has long been a fan of Milton’s game and was particularly impressed with how he seemed to meet the moment in Philadelphia when thrust into starter minutes. With Jordan McLaughlin coming off of an injury-slowed season, the Wolves needed another playmaker behind Mike Conley Jr., so they turned to Milton.
“When he’s had a consistent role, he’s been a really good NBA player,” Connelly said. “His ability to get to the paint and make late finishes, late passes can be beneficial.”
That is what Milton has been waiting on for several years. He sifted through multiple offers as free agency opened, but the pathway to consistent playing time and a meaty role is what made the Timberwolves stand out. Now he comes to Minnesota looking to remind people that he belongs in the rotation for a team with playoff aspirations.
“The best is brought out of me when my back is against the wall,” Milton said. “So when you’re given those opportunities and you want to prove your worth, you’re going out there, you’re just playing free, you’re playing confident and you’re playing aggressive. And I feel like whenever I’m able to do that, I’m at my best.”
He’s come too far to stop now.
Myrion Milton was a 6-foot-7 baller who earned the nickname the “Milk Man” while playing in college for Bartlesville Wesleyan, which became Oklahoma Wesleyan University.
“They said he brought it to your doorstep,” Shake says, proudly.
Myrion Milton eventually settled with his wife, Lisa, in Owasso, Okla., to raise their children. When Lisa was pregnant, a friend of hers would rub her belly and ask how her little shake was doing, as in milkshake. His parents gave him the name Malik Benjamin Milton, but Shake is so much more than a nickname for him.
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“Some people will call me Malik and think like they’re the only ones calling me Malik,” Milton said, smiling as he sat in a chair after a training camp practice. “It never stays that way. It always goes back to Shake. I feel like I’ve heard every Shake joke and little pun under the sun.”
Myrion was a youth coach and a referee in the Owasso area, and he lorded over Shake’s development as a kid. Father and son would walk up and down the sidewalks in their neighborhood with Shake dribbling with his left hand the whole way.
“We’d be outside playing and he was not taking it easy,” Shake said. “He would swat my shot into the street and I’m crying and stuff, but that’s the type of stuff that builds you. I wouldn’t want it any other way. So yeah, I owe it all to him.”
Just as Shake was starting to show real promise on the court, Myrion died suddenly from a heart condition during his son’s freshman year of high school. The loss shook the Milton family to the core, but it also caused Shake to seek even more refuge in the game. It was his way of keeping his father close.
“I can still hear his voice in my head, especially when I’m going through the season,” Milton said. “The season is so long. And you might have to draw inspiration from anywhere. You need a little bit of guidance or something like that. And I feel like I never really have to overthink myself just because I know his voice is there, his presence is there and I just continue to push forward.”
Milton broke records at Owasso High School and was named the boy’s Oklahoma State Player of the Year by the Tulsa World as a senior. He chose SMU over powerhouse programs like Oklahoma and Indiana because of the connection to the coaching staff and was eventually chosen 54th overall by the Sixers in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Milton signed a two-way deal with the Sixers after the draft and had to battle to get a chance. As the story now famously goes, former Sixers coach Brett Brown told him during the 2019-20 season that he was not in the team’s rotation and he had no immediate plans to play him, going with Ben Simmons, Alec Burks and Josh Richardson. Then the Sixers faced a rash of injuries, including to Simmons and Joel Embiid, prompting Brown to start Milton at point guard in a game against the Clippers in Los Angeles.
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The Sixers lost the game, but Milton put his name on the NBA map. He went 14 of 20 from the field, including 7 of 9 from 3-point land, scored 39 points and had five assists. Milton had scored 27 in a game earlier that season, but this was the moment that he felt like he truly belonged.
“That’s kind of when some of the self-doubt just went away, and I thought I can hoop with anybody,” Milton said. “Not that there was self-doubt before, but it’s like you’re constantly fighting and clawing. But that moment just kind of made me feel like I was able to do what I wanted to do.”
Milton averaged 14.5 points and shot 40 percent from 3 in the four-game sweep by Boston in the playoffs that season and was a big part of the team’s rotation the following season. Even as late as last season, when the opportunity came, he produced. During an eight-game run in the starting lineup in November, Milton averaged 21.3 points, 6.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and shot 45.5 percent from deep.
Coach Doc Rivers went with a shortened rotation in the playoffs, using De’Anthony Melton as the only real guard off the bench while playing Harden and Maxey 40-plus minutes a night. That left no room for Milton, but that should be no such issue in Minnesota.
Finch said that he would likely stick with a nine-man rotation to start this season and is using the preseason to make sure that group is as ready to go as possible.
Judging by the first two games against Dallas in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Milton figures firmly in the team’s plans. He played 20 minutes in the opener, going 5 of 6 from the field. He had four points and three assists in 15 minutes in the second game, another win over Dallas. After that game, Finch said he wants to see him look for his shot even more.
“He’s playing really well within our system, but I want him to be even more aggressive as a scorer,” Finch said, pushing him to shoot more 3s to help space the floor.
it's Shake's turn.
🏹🏹🏹🏹 pic.twitter.com/DWK2N5wDci
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) October 5, 2023
The Wolves love Milton’s size (a legit 6 foot 5) and believe his ability to put the ball on the floor and find teammates is underrated. Nickeil Alexander-Walker serves as a nice backcourt mate for him in the second unit with NAW’s ability to guard on the perimeter balancing Milton’s more polished offensive game. The way he has been embraced by the organization and his teammates has Milton brimming with belief in himself and his fit in Minnesota.
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“I believe in my skills. I’m confident,” he said. “And I feel like given this role, I’ll be able to really put my imprint on it and try to help the team win. And that’s all I really want to do.”
(Photo of Shake Milton: Chris Marion / NBAE via Getty Images)
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