top of page
image.png

2025 Free Agents - Shake Milton

Milton isn't much of a playmaker for others, but he does have the quickness and ball-handling ability to create his own shot. He's a career 36% three-point shooter, which is solid, and he's especially accurate from the corners, although he struggled from there in '22-'23 at just 30%, but made up for that by hitting 43% on non-corner threes. He struggled even more in '23-'24, hitting a career low 45% from two and just 29% from three, and did not get real minutes for any of the three teams he played for. Milton is also a decent midrange shooter but could serve to substitute some of the attempts for threes or shots at the rim. On defense, Milton is skinny for a wing and is better-served to defend guards rather than forwards. Milton's minutes declined in the playoffs in 2021, playing under 9 minutes per game as Tyrese Maxey started to surpass him in the rotation. That number picked up slightly to 12.5 minutes per game in the 2022 playoffs, but Milton still wasn't trusted with legitimate minutes when the games mattered most, and he barely played in the 2023 playoffs. With his struggles over the past couple seasons '23-'24, his career has not been on a good trajectory recently and his NBA career could be in jeopardy. If it weren't for his salary needing to be included as a sign-and-trade for Mikal Bridges, he may not have gotten guaranteed money in the 2024 offseason.

Summary

Milton's $3 million salary for 2025-2026 is non-guaranteed, and if he is waived he will become an unrestricted free agent and the Lakers will have no form of Bird rights on him. If he is waived, teams could claim him off waivers, but would need to fit his salary within cap space or an exception to do so, as his contract doesn't fit within the minimum salary exception as it was a three-year contract for slightly above the minimum. If Milton becomes a free agent, other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. If Milton is waived and clears waivers, his value will likely have dropped low enough that he would only have offers for the minimum, and he may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Cap Considerations

Malachi Flynn (1 year minimum, non-guaranteed, 2024) Jordan Goodwin (1 year minimum, non-guaranteed, 2024) Kira Lewis (1 year minimum, non-guaranteed, 2024)

Player/Contract Comparison

Potential Teams: Raptors, Hawks, Warriors, Bucks, Lakers

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $3.1 million (non-guaranteed) with the Raptors

Last updated: 1/6/2025

bottom of page