Owasso’s Milton keeps his cool as NBA Draft approaches
The zen approach is working for Shake Milton.
There is uncertainty for the former Owasso High School and SMU star as Thursday’s NBA Draft approaches. The 6-foot-6 guard is a projected second round pick with a wide range of potential professional destinations.
At his family’s home on Thursday night, he’ll sit and wait and wonder, but he won’t stress.
“It can give you anxiety or just make you really anxious,” Milton said Tuesday. “But I realize I can’t control everything, can’t really control where I go or what team picks me. So I just find a level of relaxation in it.”
There has been little time for Milton to relax since he wrapped his junior season at SMU.
Milton has traveled to work out for “11 or 12 teams,” he said — his home-state Thunder was not among them — and admits that the cycle of interviews and workouts has been “a little repetitive.”
For much of the spring, Milton was based out of Los Angeles, where he worked out in preparation for those team auditions.
“There’s not much you can add to your game in the span of however many months it is,” Milton said. “It’s just about honing the craft that you have.”
And Milton’s craft could prove appealing in the draft.
His size and jump shot make him a potential 3-and-D wing, a long range shooter who can defend a variety of perimeter players. He averaged a career-high 18 points per game as a junior at SMU and continued his strong collegiate 3-point shooting.
In three seasons, he shot 42.7 percent from 3-point range on an average of 5.1 attempts per game.
Milton excels as a catch-and-shoot scorer, and ESPN this week compared him to former Thunder wing Anthony Morrow and current Blazers swingman Allen Crabbe, among others. ESPN listed him among second-round sleepers and steals to watch, and mock drafts typically have Milton landing somewhere in the top 40 to 50 picks.
As for where he actually lands, Milton isn’t stressing.
He’ll watch with a small group of family and friends on Thursday and though he’s curious where he’ll begin his basketball career, he insists he’s “not getting antsy yet.”
He’s keeping his cool. Staying zen.
"Probably as I get closer it gets a little more that way,” he said. “At first you’re a little nervous just going through the process. You kind of just get used to it."