Former Sixers guard Shake Milton
Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Former Sixers guard Shake Milton
Shake Milton spent five seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers between 2018 and 2022. He finished 12th in Sixth Man of the Year voting following an impressive 2020-21 season with the Sixers.
Unfortunately, since leaving Philadelphia, Milton has struggled to cement himself on an NBA roster. He became an unrestricted free agent this summer and failed to draw any legitimate interest from around the league. As such, Milton has become the latest NBA player to take his talents overseas.
According to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews, Milton has signed a deal to play for Partizan Belgrade, which will also mean he will participate in this season’s EuroLeague. Milton follows in the footsteps of Lonnie Walker IV and Oshae Brissett, who both had short stints with the Sixers last season and have made the jump to Europe this summer.
During his tenure with the Sixers, Milton played in 254 regular-season games, earning 45 starts. He averaged 9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Milton will undoubtedly want to return to the NBA at some point. However, by moving to Europe, he will have a much larger role within the offense and will likely be on a similar if not higher salary than what he would have received in the NBA.
Former Sixers Draft Pick Heads to Greece
Another former member of the Sixers organization has left the United States this summer. Former big man Richaun Holmes has reportedly signed a deal with Greek team Panathinaikos. Holmes spent his first three seasons in the NBA as a member of the Sixers organization.
“Richaun Holmes has agreed to a deal with Panathinaikos that’ll make him one of the highest-paid players in Europe, sources told @hoopshype,” Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported. “Holmes averaged 7.4 points on 65% shooting and 5.7 rebounds with the Wizards last season. Holmes had interest from multiple EuroLeague teams.”
Panathinaikos won the EuroLeague in 2024. Holmes will strengthen an already talented roster that features former NBA talents Kendrick Nunn and Jerian Grant. Holmes could become one of the most dominant big men in the Greek league and will likely have an impact on the upcoming EuroLeague tournament.
Sixers Want to Keep Quentin Grimes
While multiple former Sixers players have fallen out of the NBA this summer, Quentin Grimes has been holding out for a significant pay rise from the franchise. Grimes is currently a restricted free agent. He also shone for Nick Nurse’s team during the latter stages of the 2024-25 season.
According to Jake Fischer, who was speaking via an August 8 Bleacher Report livestream, Grimes is still expected to re-sign with Philadelphia. However, there doesn’t appear to be a rush to get a deal over the line.
“I can absolutely say that the Sixers—various people in the organization, when asked—keep saying that Quentin Grimes is their top priority,” Fischer said. “And that they are going to bring Quentin Grimes back, it’s just a matter of dollars and cents. There is some buzz of him taking the qualifying offer, too.”
Fischer continued.
“I do think, at the end of the day, as things get to September and maybe even closer to October, that there will be enough synergy [to get a deal done] between Quentin Grimes and the Sixers… Quentin Grimes has never made significant money throughout his tenure as an NBA player. He absolutely stands to benefit from taking a significant offer, whatever it ends up being, from Philadelphia.”
Grimes will likely agree to a new contract with the Sixers in the coming weeks. However, his role won’t be a wide-ranging as it was last season. Nevertheless, he should have enough scope to continue impressing, and potentially avoid the fate of players like Milton and Hokmes, who now face long routes back to the NBA.