This is a Philadelphia 76ers blog because of course it is. They’re the league’s most consistently dramatic team, a franchise so chaotic that they’ve broken contain from NBA Twitter; their polyps have infected just about everything. When you talk about the 76ers, you’re as likely to be talking about mental health or gentrification or what it means to be an American as you are about actual basketball. Fittingly, 76ers fans will play an outsized role in determining the next president.
But underneath all the noise, the 76ers have a very good team, maybe even a great one. After years of unhappily cycling through would-be saviors, the Sixers have built what could be their best roster yet. After signing Paul George over the summer, the Sixers have a trio of elite, complementary All-NBA-level players. Beyond the big-ticket addition of George, the Sixers cobbled together an uncharacteristically functional, sensical array of role players, lending them the right alchemy of toughness and ball skills, up and down the lineup. If they can fumigate the stink of a near-decade of sourness and self-sabotage, the Sixers have a real shot to take home their first title in over 40 years.
While Joel Embiid is the most dominant scorer of the last half-century, and George is the co-host of the second most popular podcast on the Wave Sports + Entertainment network, Tyrese Maxey is quietly the most important player. Over the course of his first four seasons, he has steadily added to his game, maturing from a zippy backup combo guard into a terrifying offensive force.
As the reigning Most Improved Player, Maxey was thrust into duty as Philly’s starting point guard and established himself as the most potent guard of the Joel Embiid era. He ratcheted up his usage in every way possible—he not only scored more, he scored more independently. In the playoffs, he eviscerated a stout Knicks’ defense, befuddling high-end defenders like OG Anunoby and Deuce McBride and averaging nearly 30 points per game over the six game series. By doing so, he proved that he’s no longer just part of Philly’s future; he is their future.
Although Maxey has mostly made his bones as an electric scorer, this current iteration of the Sixers demands that he be more demure, more mindful. With George in the fold, Maxey’s role has subtly shifted. Previously, he had the privilege to hunt for his own shot because he was the team’s only capable ball handler. This year, he’s responsible for finding shots for everybody else. Embiid needs his touches; the Sixers didn’t pay George $212 million to be Skinny Tobias Harris. As such, Maxey will have to continually balance and rebalance the team’s ledger, ensuring that his star teammates are properly fed while also maintaining his essential scoring punch.
To be sure, Maxey undoubtedly has the ability to be an effective and generous docent, but his aggression is central to his productivity. At his best, he gives his opponent no time to think. He’s the speediest and most decisive guard in the NBA, articulating his movements with the tempo and clarity of an auctioneer. His game has no needless breaths or pauses—he almost immediately converts any potential energy into kinetic energy.
These skills, though, naturally limit his playmaking. When he sprints into the lane, he sometimes finds himself at the rim before he can map out where to pass around the help defense. When he’s seizing upon a twinkle of space to launch a pull-up three, he’s not exactly wondering how he can get KJ Martin involved. Even as Maxey averaged a career high 6.2 assists per game, most of that increase came simply from the fact that he had the ball more than ever before; his assist-to-usage ratio ranked in just the 21st percentile among all point guards. Similarly, he struggled to create high-value assists—he assisted on fewer layups than Kyle Anderson and fewer corner threes than Kyle Kuzma. According to BBall Index, he ranked in just the fourth percentile in passing creation quality.
In this sense, the ends of Embiid’s and George’s primes will be determined by the beginning of Maxey’s. Together, the three of them are a fascinating fit: they’re seemingly aligned in what they do on the court, but dramatically different in how. Embiid and George play slowly and methodically, as if they’re carrying the weight of their knotted legacies down the court at all times; Maxey is fast and fancy-free. For the Sixers to succeed, Maxey will have to jolt Embiid and George out of their collective neuroses and malaise. He plays with undeniable joy—now, it’s time for him to share it with others.
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