The Sixers Need To Figure Out How To Maximize Tyrese Maxey

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey began the 2022-23 NBA season looking like one of the league’s rising young stars, but he’s had a roller-coaster past few months.

In mid-November, Maxey suffered a foot injury that sidelined him for a month-and-a-half. He briefly worked his way back into the Sixers’ starting lineup following his return in late December, but head coach Doc Rivers elected to shift him to the bench after six games and replaced him with De’Anthony Melton. Maxey stayed there for the next month-and-a-half, aside from a pair of spot starts in which All-Star center Joel Embiid sat out.

One of those spot starts came last Wednesday night against the Miami Heat. Maxey went off for 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting (including 4-of-7 from deep), seven assists and four rebounds in the Sixers’ blowout victory. One night later, even with Embiid returning to the starting lineup, Rivers went with Maxey over Melton against the Dallas Mavericks. Maxey has stayed there ever since.

Regardless of whether Maxey remains in the starting lineup or moves back to the bench, the Sixers’ championship hopes this season rest on figuring out how best to optimize him.

Maxey got off to a red-hot start prior to his injury, averaging 22.9 points, 4.4 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.9 three-pointers in 36.4 minutes per game while shooting 46.2 percent overall and 42.2 percent from deep. After his move to the bench, he dropped down to 17.4 points, 2.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.9 three-pointers in 30.1 minutes per game while shooting 45.3 percent overall and 37.0 percent from deep.

Prior to the All-Star break, Maxey admitted to reporters that adjusting to his new role had been a mental struggle.

“I had a rough past week, man,” Maxey said. “Just rough and mentally, I didn’t play well. I had a conversation with my parents yesterday for about an hour-and-a-half and I kind of got all the emotions out that I needed to get out. I told Coach Doc, I told [assistant coach] Sam [Cassell] that I was human and I had to let it out. Once I let it out, I told him I would be the best version of Tyrese that I can be for the rest of this year.”

Beyond the mental hurdles of adjusting to a new role on the fly, Maxey also had to shift back being into a primary creator when he came off the bench. He filled that role for the Sixers last season prior to Harden’s arrival, but being largely tethered to Embiid’s minutes helped alleviate some of that burden.

This year, the Sixers tried to have Maxey carry reserve-heavy units to keep Harden and Embiid paired together as much as possible. However, they’ve been outscored by 0.4 points per 100 possessions with Maxey on the floor and both Embiid and Harden off, which suggests they shouldn’t continue that strategy when the playoffs roll around.

In theory, having Maxey come off the bench should give him a few minutes every game where he can be the primary offensive focal point. However, he might have even more value to the Sixers as a secondary option alongside Embiid and Harden who pushes defenses past their breaking point.

When Maxey plays with Embiid, Harden, P.J. Tucker and Tobias Harris, the Sixers are outscoring opponents by 16.7 points per 100 possessions. They’re averaging a scorching 125.7 points per 100 possessions on offense and allowing only 109.0 per 100 on defense. With Melton in place of Maxey, the Sixers are outscoring opponents by only 6.7 points per 100 possessions and have a worse offensive rating (121.3) and defensive rating (114.5).

Rivers recently acknowledged that the passing ability of Harden and the spacing provided by the Sixers’ other starters helps open the floor for Maxey.

“Listen, I don’t think Maxey hasn’t been [aggressive],” Rivers said after the Sixers’ loss to the Heat on Feb. 27. “I just don’t think there’s been a lot of room for him to. Tonight, he had more space because he had Tobias on the floor with him and James on the floor. James sets him up, so I thought that was good for him.”

The numbers bear that out.

This year, 67.8% of Maxey’s made two-point shots have been assisted when he shares the floor with Harden. That drops down to 28.6% in the minutes where he isn’t playing alongside Harden, which is the biggest differential of any Sixers player. Maxey has also been more efficient from two-point range with Harden on the floor (53.9%) than without (48.5%).

The same holds true with his three-point shooting. When Maxey shares the floor with Harden, 87.1% of his made triples have been assisted. When he’s playing without Harden, only 54.0% of his made three-pointers have been assisted. He’s also shooting 43.4% from deep alongside Harden and only 37.9% with Harden off the floor.

Before Harden and Maxey suffered their respective early-season injuries, they logged 247 minutes together across the Sixers’ first nine games (27.4 minutes per game). Following Maxey’s move to the bench in mid-January, they spent 300 minutes alongside one another over the ensuing 17 games (17.6 minutes per game).

If playing alongside Harden is the key to optimizing Maxey, the Sixers need to figure out ways to better align their minutes regardless of whether Maxey starts or comes off the bench.

“The only difference to me, obviously, is when you play with James, it helps him,” Rivers told reporters about Maxey after the Sixers’ 133-130 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. “It’s when you don’t start him, it’s very tough to get him high minutes. That’s what we were struggling with. That doesn’t mean going to start him every night, but it is tough.”

The solution may be relatively simple. Maxey should spend most (all?) of his minutes with at least one of Embiid or Harden on the floor. Since Harden is by far the best playmaker on the team, he should anchor the reserve-heavy bench lineups. Pairing Harden with long, disruptive players such as De’Anthony Melton, Jalen McDaniels and Paul Reed could enable the Sixers to play his preferred switch-everything defensive style, too.

When Maxey plays with Embiid and without Harden, the Sixers have outscored opponents by 10.8 points per 100 possessions. When Harden plays without both Harden and Embiid, the Sixers have outscored opponents by 6.2 points per 100 possessions. The biggest issues are the Maxey minutes without Embiid or Harden and the minutes without all three (minus-6.2 net rating), the latter of which should never happen in the playoffs (health permitting).

Maximizing Embiid, Harden and Maxey will be critical for the Sixers’ title chances this year. Pairing Maxey’s minutes with Embiid and Harden and having Harden help keep the bench-heavy lineups afloat seems to be their best way to do so.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac or RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.