With the peak of NBA free agency in the rearview, remaining unsigned players will likely sign minimum deals, two-way contracts, or head overseas for a new opportunity. This includes the players the Los Angeles Lakers moved on from to bring in Deandre Ayton, Jake LaRavia, and Marcus Smart earlier this month.
One of the released players was veteran guard Shake Milton. After arriving in Los Angeles as part of the Dorian Finney-Smith during the 2024-25 season, Milton was a deep rotation player for the Lakers. The 28-year-old combo guard appeared in 30 games and played over 11 minutes per game, averaging 3.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. His shooting struggles, making only 29.4% of his threes in the regular season as a Laker, pushed him out of the rotation and now out of the NBA.
After getting waived by the Lakers earlier in the week, Milton is reportedly headed to the Euroleague, per European basketball insider Donatas Urbonas. Basketnews was the first to report that Milton was in advanced talks with European powerhouse Partizan Belgrade.
Shake Milton, a 7-year NBA veteran recently waived by the Lakers, is in advanced talks with EuroLeague club Partizan Belgrade, per sources.
— Donatas Urbonas (@Urbodo) July 24, 2025
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Recently Waived Lakers SG Shake Milton About to Land New Overseas Opportunity
Even though this is the first overseas contract for Milton, this is far from unexpected. Milton has been on the fringes of NBA rotations for the better part of his career. He was a promising young scorer earlier in his career in Philadelphia, playing a big role off the bench. His game, however, failed to develop beyond being an instant scorer, limiting his upside in the league.
This resulted in Milton bouncing around the NBA since leaving the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2023 offseason, playing for five different teams.
Now, the former second-round pick has a chance to bounce back and re-establish his career. Plenty of players spend a season or two in Europe to regain their confidence and play themselves into form before attempting a return to the United States.
Fortunately, Milton will be playing for one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time in Željko Obradović. The Partizan head coach is arguably the most successful coach in European basketball history and has a long track record of developing players.
If Milton can learn from and develop under Obradović, the ex-Lakercould make an NBA comeback in no time.