Sixers rookie report: Tyrese Maxey makes NBA debut
Tyrese Maxley made his Philadelphia 76ers debut and a strong impression.
Welcome back to The Sixer Sense’s rookie report, 2020-21 season edition. Just like in seasons past, each Sunday there will be a rookie report coming out covering what happened to the Philadelphia 76ers‘ first year players during the previous week.
This year, the Sixers have four rookies entering the year. Tyrese Maxey was selected with the 21st overall pick, Isaiah Joe was the 49th pick, Paul Reed was the 58th pick, and Dakota Mathias was undrafted. The two latter rookies are on two-way contracts and will probably spend most of the season on the Delaware Blue Coats, Philly’s G-League affiliate.
It should be noted that the G-League isn’t projected to start it’s Bubble shortened season until January 2021, according to Jeff Thurn of ESPN 99.1 FM. While not every G-League team will be participating in the Bubble, the Blue Coats rumored to in it, per JD Shaw of Hoopsrumors. With that being said, Mathias and Reed probably won’t show up in these reports too often, especially to begin this year.
21st pick, 2020
More from The Sixer Sense
- 3 Sixers players who could help Team USA Basketball
- 76ers 2k24 ratings: 3 most underrated players on Philadelphia roster
- 76ers head coach Nick Nurse bares lofty plans for Paul Reed this season
- Grade the Trade: 76ers swap Tobias Harris for superstar PG in mock deal
- Sixers Podcast: Danny Green returns + James Harden bombshell
As the title of this article has suggested, this rookie report’s primary focus is Maxey. To be more precise, he’s the only rookie in this week’s article who actually received playing time. The other rookies failed to log a single minute.
Maxey played very well in the Sixers’ first win of the season against the Washington Wizards. He finished with six points, two rebounds, two assists, and one turnover, during just 11 minutes of play. He also made 50.0 percent of his six field goal attempts but failed to convert his one 3-point attempt.
In the 76ers’ second win of the year against the New York Knicks, Maxey played nine minutes. He had two points, two rebounds, three assists, and one turnover, while making 1-4 of his shots from the floor.
On the week, he averaged 4.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.0 turnover, while converting 40.0 percent of his field goals.
Next. Podcast: Season predictions | over/under scenarios | bench rotation. dark
While the stats don’t look all too impressive, the rookie showed an explosive first step and never looked like he was overmatched, despite being a first year player. The Philadelphia 76ers may have found a steal in this past draft based on the early returns of Maxey’s production.