Lakers castoff just hit rock bottom after brutal career development

The Los Angeles Lakers waived guard Shake Milton just before his $3 million salary for the 2025-26 season was set to become guaranteed. This move completely removes Milton's salary from the Lakers' books and was done to create salary cap space, likely aimed at facilitating a potential signing of Marcus Smart.

Milton's time with the Lakers was brief. Acquired in a trade involving D'Angelo Russell and Dorian Finney-Smith, he played only 30 games for the team, averaging 3.9 points in 11.5 minutes per game.

This Lakers stint might mark the end of Milton's NBA career. Instead of pursuing free agency deals with other NBA teams, the 28-year-old guard is reportedly in advanced talks to join EuroLeague club Partizan Belgrade in Serbia.

Partizan Belgrade features several former NBA players on its roster, including Frank Ntilikina, Jabari Parker, Sterling Brown, and Isaac Bonga. Notably, both Brown and Bonga also had short tenures with the Lakers previously.

Milton, primarily a back-of-the-rotation guard in recent NBA seasons despite starting 47 games earlier in his career, faces an uncertain NBA future. With many young guards entering the league, his skill set is seen as unlikely to significantly help playoff-contending teams. While a return from Europe is possible, needing to move overseas at age 28 is considered a negative sign for his NBA prospects.

The Lakers clearly prioritized freeing up cap space by releasing Milton. Even if they hadn't landed Marcus Smart, it's unlikely they would have paid Milton $3 million to be a deep reserve. Although the Lakers could have waived him earlier to give him more NBA free agency opportunities, the article suggests Milton might have been destined for Europe regardless of the timing.