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Who is Shake Milton? If you’re a casual Sixers or NBA fan, you may not have any clue. After his 39-point performance against the fully loaded Clippers Sunday afternoon, you know who he is now. Shake straight up dominated Sunday against the Clippers. He shot 14-20 from the floor and 7-9 from three point range. He dominated the first half including a highlight fast break dunk over Patrick Beverly. Even when the Clippers titled their defense toward him in the second half, he did not shy away and continued to be aggressive. The Clippers put Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Pat Beverly on him, with none of them having much success in slowing Milton down. As I wrote in my last piece, Shake would be one of the Sixers who would have to step up in Ben Simmons’ absence. Now that we know what happened Sunday, how did we get here?

Malik Benjamin “Shake” Milton was born in Owasso, Oklahoma just outside Tulsa. Milton starred at Owasso High School earning Gatorade Player of the Year for the state in his junior and senior seasons. His senior year, he averaged 30 points per game and was Oklahoma Super 5 Player of the Year. He committed to Southern Methodist University (SMU) and was recruited by head coach Larry Brown, the former Sixers head coach. Shake was a four star recruit and chose to attend SMU over University of Oklahoma and Indiana University.

While Shake had a solid career at SMU, his numbers did not jump off the page. Milton’s freshman year saw him receive All AAC Rookie Team honors averaging 10.5 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 2.7 APG. By his junior year, his production increased to 18 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 4.4 APG. His season was cut short with a broken hand after 22 games, but was still able to make All AAC second team.

Shake declared for the draft and was eventually picked in the second round with the 54th pick by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2018 NBA Draft. He was traded to the 76ers on draft night for the 56th and 60th picks in the 2018 draft. Milton ended up signing a two-way deal with the Sixers, meaning he would split time between the Sixers and their G-League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats. He appeared in 20 games for the Sixers averaging almost 5 points. However, in the G-League, he averaged 25 PPG, 5 APG, and 5 RPG. His scoring average was 4th best in the G-League.

Before the current NBA season, the Sixers signed Shake to a 4 year NBA deal. Early in the season, Milton looked to be in the rotation but after injuring his knee against the Hawks he didn’t return to the lineup. He was buried on the bench only used in garbage time situations. Once injuries started happening, Brett started going to Shake Milton to get a trust worthy ball handler in the game. With injuries to Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, Shake has stepped up in ways no one predicted. He has started 12 games thus far this season and will likely continue to start going forward. Brett Brown mentioned after Sunday’s game that he told Milton he would not be in the rotation after the All-Star break but it didn’t pan out that way.

You have to give Shake Milton credit for taking advantage of the opportunity that he has been given. Lets see if the former second round pick can continue to shine now that defenses will be preparing for him. This feels like vintage 2016 Sixers, where we are rooting for a little known second round pick to make a difference and honestly its not a bad feeling.