76ers' Shake Milton Received Consideration for Eastern Conference Player of the Week
Winning the Eastern Conference Player of the Week may not be a priority for most players. Typically, the guys who run away with it are everyday stars in the NBA. When a lesser-known prospect gets considered for the weekly award, it slightly becomes a bigger deal.
For the Philadelphia 76ers, they haven't had too many players pick up Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Back in January, they had their first two prospects win the award when Josh Richardson and Ben Simmons put on multiple big performances.
Since then, there have only been a couple of Sixers considered. Their latest player to be up as a nominee happens to be the former G-League star, Shake Milton. This past Sunday, many fans around the NBA probably didn't even know who Shake Milton was.
After his monster 39-point performance against the Los Angeles Clippers on national TV, though, many have become familiar with the Sixers' budding point guard. While Sunday's career-high production was Milton's best game by far, his last five matchups have all been impressive as the second-year guard has averaged 20 points, while shooting 69-percent from deep on six three-point attempts-per-game.
While Milton was considered to be the Eastern Conference player of the week, the 76ers' temporary point guard did not win it. Instead, the NBA has chosen a usual suspect in Milwaukee Bucks' superstar Giannis Antetokoumpo. Player of the Week would've been a decent accomplishment for the second-year guard, but Milton has his focus elsewhere as the Sixers need him to continue to step on for the remainder of their West Coast road trip.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_