Pistons trade Monte Morris to Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves have acquired guard Monte Morris in a trade with the Detroit Pistons for forward Troy Brown Jr., guard Shake Milton and a 2030 second round pick.

Morris, 28, has appeared in 348 regular season games (166 starts) in seven NBA seasons with the Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards and Pistons, averaging 10.4 points on 47.9% shooting, including 38.9% from three, 2.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. In 62 games (61 starts) last season with Washington, the 6-2 guard averaged 10.3 points on 48.0% shooting, a career-high 3.4 rebounds and a career-best 5.3 assists. At the conclusion of the 2022-23 season, he ranked second in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.4).

The Flint, Mich. native has appeared in 48 playoff games (10 starts), averaging 9.5 points on 45.1% shooting and 3.5 assists. His best playoff performance came in Game 6 of the First Round of the 2021 Playoffs when in 32:58 minutes of action off the bench, Morris finished with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting and nine assists. He became the second player in Nuggets history to finish a playoff game with 20+ points and 9+ assists off the bench.

Morris was originally drafted out of Iowa State by the Nuggets with the 51st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Signed as a free agent with the Wolves on July 8, 2023, Brown Jr. played in 37 games (three starts) for Minnesota where he averaged 4.2 points in 11.1 minutes of action per game. In 334 career games (87 starts) with the Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Timberwolves, he holds averages of 6.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

Signed as a free agent with the Timberwolves on July 8, 2023, Milton played in 38 games for Minnesota where he averaged 4.7 points in 12.9 minutes of action per game. In 292 career games (45 starts) with the Philadelphia 76ers and Timberwolves, he holds averages of 8.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Timberwolves sign Shake Milton

The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed guard Shake Milton.

Last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Milton, 6-5, appeared in 76 games (11 starts) and averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and a career-high 3.2 assists in 20.6 minutes per game. He scored 20+ points in six of his 11 starts last season, led by a 29-point effort against the Orlando Magic on Nov. 27. In five seasons in the NBA, all with the 76ers, Milton has tallied 2,368 points, 604 rebounds and 694 assists throughout 254 games (45 starts).

The Owasso, Okla. native, has seen action in 34 postseason (four starts) matchups during four trips to the playoffs. He holds playoff career averages of 5.2 points on 42.5% shooting, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 12.5 minutes per game. The 76ers originally acquired Milton’s draft rights as the 54th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft from the Dallas Mavericks.

Impressive recent play from Sixers guard Shake Milton

It’s always fun when a backup gets handed additional responsibility while a starter is out, and then goes ahead and exceeds all expectations. Here’s NBC Sports Philly on the recent play of Sixers guard Shake Milton:

The second-year guard has taken over as the starting point guard with Ben Simmons out and on Sunday put up a career-high 39 points — including hitting 7 of 9 from deep — on the road against the Clippers in front of a national audience.

Milton also made history, making 13 consecutive threes over the course of three games to tie an NBA record. Brent Price and Terry Mills, both in 1996, also reached that mark…

Milton is the ninth player in franchise history to score at least 39 points in a game in his second NBA season. The last to do so was Joel Embiid, who dropped a then career-high 46 on the Lakers in 2017. Before that, you’d have to go back to Allen Iverson dropping 43 against the Timberwolves in 1998.

As a rookie last season, Milton averaged 4.4 points in 13.4 minutes per game. This season, he’s putting up 8.8 points in 17.8 minutes per game, on much-improved shooting.

The Sixers are 37-24, which is the 5th best record in the Eastern conference.

Sixers sign Shake Milton to two-way contract

The Philadelphia 76ers have signed guard Shake Milton to a two-way contract.

The 76ers acquired the draft rights to Milton (No. 54 overall) from Dallas in a draft-night trade in exchange for the draft rights to the No. 56 overall pick, Ray Spalding from Louisville, and the No. 60 overall pick, Kostas Antetokounmpo from Dayton.

A 6-foot-5 guard, Milton averaged 18.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 2017-18, his junior season at SMU and he improved his scoring and rebounding averages in each of his three seasons with the Mustangs. For his collegiate career, he appeared in 87 games (80 starts) and posted 13.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 34.7 minutes per contest.

Over his first two seasons with SMU, the team compiled a 55-10 record, earning a No. 6 seed in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The Owasso, Oklahoma native was twice named Second Team All-AAC (2017 and 2018) and, as a freshman, was named to the AAC All-Rookie Team (2016).

Per NBA rules, teams are permitted to sign two players to two-way contracts in addition to the 15-man NBA regular-season roster. A two-way player for the 76ers will provide services to the team’s G League affiliate – the Delaware Blue Coats – but can spend up to 45 days with the 76ers, not including any time spent with Philadelphia prior to the start of Blue Coats’ training camp or following the conclusion of Delaware’s regular season.