Tyrese Maxey is Here

One reason the Philadelphia 76ers don’t feel a pressing need to make a desperation trade with Ben Simmons is the emergence of Tyrese Maxey. Just a second year player, Maxey is sort of what Markelle Fultz was supposed to be when the Sixers drafted him in 2017 with the first overall pick. He’s a multi-level scorer that can hurt you in a number of ways. That wasn’t always true of Maxey, and credit must be given to him and the Sixers coaching staff that have rounded him out. Tyrese Maxey is here, and he’s really good.

Improvement From Deep

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Maxey’s main weapon has, and probably always will be, his driving ability. He’s seemingly not using the floater quite as much as he did in his first season, but has a bigger mix of moves to use when he blows past his defender. Most of the time it does end in a simple layup as Maxey’s first step gets him free, but we are also seeing stop and gos, close range pull ups and reverses to go along with his basic layup package. While not a wizard with the ball, the tricks he has gets him the space necessary, and his blinding speed is still his greatest asset. He gets a step and he’s gone.

That’s what Maxey has always had though. Even last year, it was all about the drive. 

One of the main things Maxey needed, and the Sixers needed, was shooting from point guard position. 2020 Maxey did not offer that. 2021 Maxey is another story. He’s become much more adept at shooting threes, hitting 41% on 3.5 attempts per game right now (up from 2020’s 30.1% on 1.7 attempts per game). It’s not a massive amount of attempts, but it still absolutely needs to be respected. The best part is, it’s not on just catch-and-shoots (although even if it was, that’s still pretty solid). Maxey, in just one offseason, has somehow added a three-point game. He’s got threes off the aforementioned catch-and-shoots sure, but he’s also got dribble pull-ups (especially when defenders go under screens, which they have to do with his speed) and stepbacks in his arsenal. That shows he’s not just getting lucky on a relatively small sample size, but legitimately a good three-point shooter. Look at these numbers on various three-point attempts compared to last year. It’s a remarkable improvement. Maxey developing a shot this quick is not something that was necessarily expected, but boy does he ever have it. 

Next Steps

In terms of improvement going into the 2021 season, Maxey needed two things to really become a star point guard in the league. He needed to develop his shooting and his passing, because the inside game was already there in spades. Well, in just half a season he’s pretty much got the shooting down. Now it’s just the playmaking that needs work. Maxey’s assist numbers do suffer from not really being a primary ball handler, which Doc’s 2021 system doesn’t seem to use. Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and even Joel Embiid all take turns as the initiator of offense with Maxey (and that’s just the starters), which does limit what he can do. Part of that is Doc’s system, but the fact that this “share the wealth” mentality exists indicates that no one on the team is truly ready to step up and take the lead role. Maxey doesn’t really wow you with his passing or his vision. The speed he uses to get to the lane should open up shooters more often, but sometimes the tunnel vision takes over. 

Defense is another area where Maxey could improve, although with his size it might be a tall task. He probably won’t ever become a dominant defender, but he can mold himself into that opportunistic type that can rack up steals and provide value that way. 

Honestly though, these two things are difficult to improve with what he already has, and in the grand scheme of things aren’t THAT important. If he continues to develop his scoring and becomes even better at what he does well (and he’s already improved so much in a short time) then he can still be great and a vital piece to a championship team. Damian Lillard for instance, while he does have more assists than Maxey, is definitely a score-first guard and his passing is more of a side-benefit. 

Motivation to improve doesn’t seem to be an issue with Maxey either, unlike some other Philly point guards in the past. When challenged by Embiid after going 2/11 from the floor (with a little light teasing to go with it) Maxey responded incredibly well and is now playing better than ever. Since that game he’s hitting 53.8% of his triples on 4.3 attempts per game. Maxey needs to continue to up the attempts for sure, but it’s already a marked improvement and Maxey seems to know he needs to continue doing more.

Maxey and Trades

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Maxey is well on his way to becoming an All-Star level score-first guard, and if he becomes that secondary threat to Embiid, that allows Harris to slide back into the ideal third-fiddle role and the Sixers scoring problems should be sorted. That already means the Sixers don’t need to necessarily panic move Ben Simmons, especially for a guy that isn’t a massive difference maker. For instance, Maxey in many ways profiles similarly to DeAaron Fox (a popular trade candidate) but if Maxey is already bringing 75% of what Fox is bringing while being much cheaper and younger with room to grow, does it make sense to trade for Fox? 

Additionally, with Maxey ascending like he is, he himself becomes extra juicy trade bait. Maybe a franchise doesn’t think Ben Simmons can improve much, which is fair. He’s still an All-NBA and All-Star level player, and what if now you throw in Maxey who has star scorer potential? Who is still on a rookie contract? Now, many trades that seemed extreme become much more plausible. Maxey is a second-year player averaging 16.6 points on very efficient splits of 46.5/41.0/87.9. That is valuable. Of the second year players, only LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Desmond Bane and Cole Anthony are averaging more points than him and all but Bane have worse splits (and Maxey is the second youngest). Two of those guys are already regarded as untouchable stars that will shape the future of the league. Of course, they have way more offensive responsibility, and Maxey is absolutely not on their level, but to say he isn’t close, or isn’t one of the most valuable assets from that draft class is ignoring the numbers. Maxey is already really good, and he’s just been getting better and better. Whether the Sixers keep him or use him to get a super star, Maxey’s emergence as a great asset will be crucial to the Sixers’ future, which isn’t something you can always say for the 21st pick in the draft.