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NBA Draft 2018 Prospect Watch: Shake Milton

By Jordan Treske

UNIVERSITY PARK, TX - DECEMBER 02: SMU Mustangs guard Shake Milton (#1) tries to fire up the crowd during the college basketball game between the SMU Mustangs and the USC Trojans on December 2, 2017, at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, TX. SMU won the game 72-55. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).
UNIVERSITY PARK, TX - DECEMBER 02: SMU Mustangs guard Shake Milton (#1) tries to fire up the crowd during the college basketball game between the SMU Mustangs and the USC Trojans on December 2, 2017, at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, TX. SMU won the game 72-55. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). /
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UNIVERSITY PARK, TX – NOVEMBER 10: (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images).
UNIVERSITY PARK, TX – NOVEMBER 10: (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images). /

What the experts say

(as of 5/23/18)

ESPN (Jonathan Givony): 35th

The Ringer (Kevin O’Connor, Jonathan Tjarks, Danny Chau): 21st

Sports Illustrated (Jeremy Woo): 50th

Sporting News (Chris Stone): N/A

The Athletic (Sam Vecenie): 32nd

The Stepien (Cole Zwicker): 22nd

The Step Back (Brandon Kleen): 25th

Quotes:

Mike Gribanov of The Stepien writes that while he has the tools to be a vital, multi-faceted player on the NBA level, it’s Milton’s ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc that will be key to his value on the court:

"“A lengthy versatile, combo guard with solid patience and half court decision making, Milton fits well as a 3&D role player with some ball skills at the next level. The question is how much of those things will he bring? While he is able to defend multiple positions, he isn’t a high level defender overall and his ball skills are below average for an NBA guard. He’ll likely need to be a knockdown shooter to bring positive value.”"

Before his underwhelming showing at last week’s NBA Draft Combine, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie glowed about Milton’s prospects on the NBA level and wondered how there wasn’t more buzz about him being a first round pick:

"“The more I look at Milton as a prospect, the more I can’t really understand why he’s not considered a sure-fire first round pick. At 6-6 with a near-7-foot wingspan, the SMU point guard has the ability to handle the ball at his size, make smart passing decision and provide the offensive versatility every NBA team is looking for right now as a consistent career 43 percent 3-point shooter. Defensively, that length and size allows him to slide up and down positions against different opponents depending on what makes sense and allows you more flexibility as a coach to play big or small depending on what role you want to employ him in. He announced that he will stay in the draft after hiring an agent, and my guess is that Milton either ends up in the first round, or ends up being seen as one of those players folks look at and wonder why he didn’t end up in the first after his first couple of seasons in the league. He’s tailor-made for the modern NBA.”"

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