Welcome Tyrese Maxey!

[Iverson Armband]

Not sure why, but feel like this year will be great (Finals appearance) or an absolute disaster. Definitely feel like the former is the most likely scenario though.

[ivysixer2000]

I'm sure this has been asked before in this thread but I think it could be revisited especially with how dry this board is and the changes that has occurred lately.
So we are entering the dawn of summer and the NBA is still in the middle of their offseason. We signed PG a 2way scoring threat but a little past his prime. Our beloved future Allstar guard Maxey signed an extension and has been in the lab looking to take the next step to greatness. Embiid our elite MVP caliber big man who may be on the decline due to injury , weight and age but just had one of the greatest scoring seasons ever and has just had a great experience in the Olympics winning gold . They were surrounded by notable vets and promising role playing young players. The roster looks solid with potential weaknesses being rebounding and spacing.

We are bigger, more athletic and with better shot making ability with the roster that was put together.

My biggest hope is that Maxey can take another step and become the # 1 option. Embiid falling into #2 and focusing more on his all-around game. PG playing a point forward/3&D role (like Denver/Golden state iggy but with more scoring ability) .

Is this a possibility?

It might! Seems like that will be George's role, otherwise really comes down to what Embiid's mindset is, Maxey will probably defer to him until Embiid tells him otherwise. Does seem inevitable though at some point.

Yeah I don't think Jojo is ready to take a backseat to Max, not this season. I like what I hear about Max's development, but I also don't think he is ready to take that role. We are talking about a former MVP and leading scorer in the league (even last year before injury) taking a backseat to Maxey here.

Could Maxey become an MVP candidate this season? That's the only way Embiid would take a backseat IMO. I just don't see that happening, at least not this year unless Max has improved a WHOLE lot more than last year.

[Stanford]

Maxey will win MVP next season

[Jailblazers7]

Joel might not take a “backseat” but his usage rate better not be 37%-39% like it’s been for the past 3 years.

[NearingZero]

Joel might not take a “backseat” but his usage rate better not be 37%-39% like it’s been for the past 3 years.

I think that will depend on how they use the big 3. If they get a lot of minutes all playing together, Embiid's usage will drop. PG should definitely be a higher usage player than Harris was (although that might impact Oubre's usage as much as Embiid's).

If they try to have Maxey & PG cover most of the non-Embiid minutes, Embiid's usage may not drop very much. His average minutes might be reduced though because significantly better performance in the non-Embiid minutes should mean more blowouts.

Also, Batum was extremely low usage (8.7%) in a fair number of total minutes (5th on the team). Moreso than the non-center additions are going to be IMO.

[ivysixer2000]

Good question on how they will be deployed. They will start together, but will PG play more with Max or Embiid? I would assume Max but who knows. I do know that it might be expecting too much for Jojo to just stop playing like he has his entire career in one offseason.

Jojo is too predictable when he starts backing in, he does need to stop over dribbling and trying to be a point guard out there. He does need to stop with the dumb turnovers. I wish he would take notice that Jokic doesn't do that much dribbling, he is looking for his teamates.

There are alot of things we can hope for, but I figure reality will be somewhere in between as Maxey shows the ability to carry the team more. Max does need to show the ability to break people down on the dribble one on one before I will say he is ready for that role, and he will probably have to show NN and Embiid that cause hasn't shown it yet.

[NearingZero]

One more thing: Embiid should absolutely be one of the highest usage players in the NBA - just not 40%. He is a very efficient, high-volume scorer.

Maxey has a ways to go before his scoring prowess can match Embiid's, and Maxey is not yet a great distributor. I expect he will continue to improve on both things, and in a few years, he'll surpass Embiid as the dominant offensive force on the team. I do not think that will happen this year.

[phillynative]

If Embiids usage is as high as it was the last few seasons than something has not worked out accordingly. We have legit scoring options in Maxey , PG and Oubre. I also believe Gordon, Jackson and Drummond can give 8-12pts off the bench.
I don't care about Embiid dominating in the regular season only to limp into the playoffs and give 10 less ppg. We already know the risks of forcing Embiid the ball in the crux of a tight playoff game.

This leads to Maxey idealy being the perimeter go to player that can get his shot or create a shot for his teammates in the clutch. We saw some glimpses of that this past season. We need his shot creation/ mid-range and playmaking to take a leap for this to happen.

[Jailblazers7]

One more thing: Embiid should absolutely be one of the highest usage players in the NBA - just not 40%. He is a very efficient, high-volume scorer.

Maxey has a ways to go before his scoring prowess can match Embiid's, and Maxey is not yet a great distributor. I expect he will continue to improve on both things, and in a few years, he'll surpass Embiid as the dominant offensive force on the team. I do not think that will happen this year.

Totally agree, he should have a usage rate of ~33%, which would be top 10 in the league rather than top 10 all time.

I’m excited to see what kind of efficiency we can get out of this group. If we get the offense right, our 3 best players could all be flirting with 50/40/90 shooting splits.

[Kobblehead]

I hope Maxey is cornrows all damn year.

[mjkvol]

I hope Maxey is cornrows all damn year.

Nah, the flying dreads are his trademark.

[GoSixersBro]

Not sure why, but feel like this year will be great (Finals appearance) or an absolute disaster. Definitely feel like the former is the most likely scenario though.

I don't think a Finals appearance is in the cards but who knows. I think the only chance at that is a 100% Embiid health wise. And hey, maybe we're due for that.

[mjkvol]

Not sure why, but feel like this year will be great (Finals appearance) or an absolute disaster. Definitely feel like the former is the most likely scenario though.

I don't think a Finals appearance is in the cards but who knows. I think the only chance at that is a 100% Embiid health wise. And hey, maybe we're due for that.

It's not a perfect analogy, but who knows, maybe the Sixers will pull a 1980 Phils and go all the way when we least expect it. The '77 and '78 Phils were far better and fell short in brutal manner, but by 1980 those Phils were aging and coming off an awful 1979, but they picked up Pete Rose, got some clutch performances by journeyman vets and kids, and the rest is history. Maybe PG brings the same kind of magic to this group.

[GoSixersBro]

Not sure why, but feel like this year will be great (Finals appearance) or an absolute disaster. Definitely feel like the former is the most likely scenario though.

I don't think a Finals appearance is in the cards but who knows. I think the only chance at that is a 100% Embiid health wise. And hey, maybe we're due for that.

It's not a perfect analogy, but who knows, maybe the Sixers will pull a 1980 Phils and go all the way when we least expect it. The '77 and '78 Phils were far better and fell short in brutal manner, but by 1980 those Phils were aging and coming off an awful 1979, but they picked up Pete Rose, got some clutch performances by journeyman vets and kids, and the rest is history. Maybe PG brings the same kind of magic to this group.

Sixers gotta be due for some luck. I'm younger than you, but it's easy to point out moments of the 2008 Phils and 2017 Birds getting some lucky breaks in their runs. It's wild that we even have to consider Embiid being healthy once as luck lol.

[Sixerscan]

I don't think a Finals appearance is in the cards but who knows. I think the only chance at that is a 100% Embiid health wise. And hey, maybe we're due for that.

It's not a perfect analogy, but who knows, maybe the Sixers will pull a 1980 Phils and go all the way when we least expect it. The '77 and '78 Phils were far better and fell short in brutal manner, but by 1980 those Phils were aging and coming off an awful 1979, but they picked up Pete Rose, got some clutch performances by journeyman vets and kids, and the rest is history. Maybe PG brings the same kind of magic to this group.

Sixers gotta be due for some luck. I'm younger than you, but it's easy to point out moments of the 2008 Phils and 2017 Birds getting some lucky breaks in their runs. It's wild that we even have to consider Embiid being healthy once as luck lol.

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