Shake

Milton

A few days after being waived by the Lakers, Milton is headed to Europe for the next phase of his career. He has agreed to a deal with Partizan Belgrade, which won the ABA and Serbian league championships this past season. Among the other former NBA players on the roster are Jabari Parker, Frank Ntilikina and Isaac Bonga.

Los Angeles needed to make a move to clear space for them to sign Marcus Smart. Milton’s $3 million contract for next season was set to become fully guaranteed on Sunday, which made him the cap casualty of adding Smart. Milton should be a coveted depth point guard option once he clears waivers.

It will be five new starters for the Lakers in the regular season finale with the rest of their typical opening unit sitting out to prepare for the playoffs. Jaxson Hayes is the lone usual starter that will be available, but his absence from the starting unit implies that he may not play a significant role.

Tuesday’s game will be the second straight Goodwin has missed with a sprained right ankle. Shake Milton played eight minutes off the bench in Sunday’s win over the Clippers, but the Lakers were also without Austin Reaves. Milton will likely fall out of the rotation if Reaves can return from his calf injury.

Doncic has yet to make his Lakers debut, as the date has been pushed back multiple times. He’s on the injury report as questionable for Monday, so there’s a chance he sits out at least one more matchup. Knecht is back with the Lakers after Mark Williams’ failed physical scuttled a trade sending him to Charlotte. It’s unclear when Knecht will return to his former team. Players like Gabe Vincent and Shake Milton could see increased run if Doncic and Knecht are out, but the real beneficiary of the Lakers’ recurring backcourt injuries is Austin Reaves. Reaves went off for a monster 45/7/7/3 line in Saturday’s win over Indiana.

Vincent is available after missing three games with a sore left knee. His return means fewer minutes for Shake Milton, but neither player should be rostered in most fantasy leagues. Leave Vincent on the waiver wire.

Vincent has missed the Lakers’ last three games due to a sore left knee. His absence freed up additional minutes for Shake Milton, and Bronny James entered the rotation during Tuesday’s loss in Philadelphia. Whatever streaming value Milton possessed with Vincent out of the lineup will likely vanish if the Lakers clear Gabe to play.

Vincent has missed the Lakers’ last three games with a sore left knee. His absence led to Bronny James playing rotation minutes, but the rookie did not do enough to merit being rostered in any fantasy league. Shake Milton also benefited; if Vincent remains out, he would be worth considering in deep leagues.

With Gabe Vincent out with a sore knee, Milton picked up additional rotation minutes off the bench on Thursday. While the opportunity and the opponent helped, give Shake credit for stepping up and having his best night as a Laker. In his prior nine appearances, he scored 15 points in total. Therefore, fantasy managers should not overreact and rush to add Milton. However, if Vincent remains out for Saturday’s game against the Knicks, Shake will be worth a dice roll.

Vincent will miss a third straight game with a sore left knee. While Bronny James did play early rotation minutes in Tuesday’s loss to Philadelphia, that may have been a case of “too much, too soon” for the rookie. Thursday’s matchup may be better suited for Bronny to play more, but he still isn’t worth streaming. The same can be said for Shake Milton, who only played six minutes on Tuesday.