If This Is Close To What Tyrese Maxey Will Be, Watch Out

On 30th October, the Philadelphia 76ers exercised their 2023/24 team option worth $4,343,920 on the rookie scale contract of third-year guard, Tyrese Maxey.

Two days earlier, Maxey had scored a career-high 44 points on only 20 shots in a blow-out win over the division rival Toronto Raptors.

The 76ers probably did not need that 44-point performance to make their minds up on this completely obvious and automatic decision, yet the timing of both of those things serves to illustrate how good Maxey is getting, especially relative to expectation.

Philadelphia drafted Maxey with the 21st overall pick in 2020, directly between Precious Achiuwa and Zeke Nnaji. He had averaged 14.0 points, 4.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game in a heavy minutes share in his only season at Kentucky, but had not really shone in any area of the game; while he had few weaknesses and played with energy, he was not a huge athlete, a sub-par shooter, inefficient from many areas of the court as a scorer, unremarkable as a defender, and with mostly scoring inclinations as a playmaker.

It quickly transpired, though, that Maxey’s stand-out attribute was his work ethic. The player before us today is a hundred times better than the Kentucky Wildcat of two and a half years ago. Indeed, he is one of the most rapidly-improving players in the world.

The biggest improvement to his game from his rookie to sophomore campaign was, simply, his own shooting ability. Maxey more than quadrupled his total makes from three-point range while also putting twelve points on his percentage, becoming a 42.7% three-point shooter on slightly more than four attempts per game in the 2021/22 regular season.

The early returns on this season suggest further improvements are forthcoming – in Philadelphia’s first eight games of this season, Maxey has shot 24-53 from three, upping both the efficiency and the volume one more level. Shooting efficiency does not automatically scale in harmony with increased volume. But for Maxey, it keeps doing so.

Along with the exceptional three-point range – particularly off the catch and in transition – Maxey has shown a propensity for consistently hitting all manner of tough shots. In particular, his floater is extremely effective, even when releasing it while running at top speed, and his finishing at the rim is just as improved. On the season so far, Maxey is averaging 23.3 points per game, and this is not a Ronald Murray flash-in-the-pan. This is the continuation of a sharp, but genuine, upwards curve.

An argument is sometimes made that, in playing alongside superstars Joel Embiid and James Harden, Maxey is in the perfect spot for his offensive game. His combination of speed and scoring is in theory particularly potent as a third option, with defenses having to cover two other 25-points-per-game threats all over their halfcourt. The counterargument would be to say that Maxey plays better without Embiid, as the team as a whole plays faster without their slowest man, and as the ultimate spot-picker, quick shots fall into Maxey’s wheelhouse. Perhaps they are both true.

In as much as express hierarchies matter – which is probably a greater external concern than internal – Maxey’s lightning growth is seeing him overtake Harden as the 76ers’ “second option”. It is true that much of Maxey’s individual success this season has come in the wake of Harden’s spluttering start, and of his team as a whole – when (or if) Harden gets back to his Beard Best, perhaps Maxey becomes a more overt “third guy” again, especially when (or if) Embiid returns to good health.

Nevertheless, the most important attributes that can be found in a young basketball player is the desire to work, learn and grow. And by exhibiting them in spades, Maxey is playing his way to the top.