Sixers exercise Shake Milton’s team option for 2022-23 season

This news comes as no surprise: Shake Milton is staying put in Philadelphia as the Sixers have exercised his team option for next season, a source has confirmed to Liberty Ballers. This update was first mentioned by Keith Smith.

It’s always made complete sense for the Sixers to exercise Milton’s team option for next season. With him owed just $1.99 million in salary for 2022-23, they won’t be finding an upgrade on the free agent market for a better price than that.

Milton had an up and down season in 2021-22, which was frustratingly hampered by injuries. He turned in some very solid play over the first couple of months, but he had COVID in late December and missed just over a month through January and early February with a back contusion.

Unsurprisingly, due to injuries and a reduced role in the Sixers’ offense behind James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, Shake’s production took a step back from 2020-21. He finished last season averaging 8.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists to only 0.8 turnovers in 21.4 minutes per game. Milton did show some improvement, though, specifically with his sharper passing.

The Sixers have a new clear-cut third guard in place after acquiring De’Anthony Melton, who’s going to give the team a notable lift at both ends of the floor. But there’s still a spot for Milton to add some extra ball-handling off the bench, and ideally some helpful spot-up shooting if he can rediscover the 38.2 percent three-point shooting he averaged over 2019-20 and 2020-21.

With Melton and Milton officially on the roster as the team’s primary backup guards, adding wing depth is still the Sixers’ biggest positional need heading into free agency.