Sixers: Early prediction of the point guard depth chart

Sixers’ point guard depth chart: Tyrese Maxey — SECOND STRING

For much of last season, this spot belonged to Shake Milton. Now, it should belong entirely to Tyrese Maxey, who deserves upwards of 20 minutes per game next season. In fact, in an ideal world, Maxey is far and away the Sixers’ most important bench player. He may not perform up to that level, but there’s plenty of reason for confidence given the 20-year-old’s famous work ethic.

Maxey improved so much over the course of one season, that it’s hard to fathom. There’s a reason Doc Rivers benched him entirely early on — he just wasn’t very good when the season started. He was quick and twitchy, yes, but he got abused on defense and shied away from finishing at the rim offensively, instead leaning on floaters and push shots.

By season’s end, Maxey was a critical part of the playoff rotation, and by far the Sixers’ most dynamic downhill finisher. He embraced and absorbed contact on finishes inside, and got to the free throw line more frequently as a result. He even started to come around on defense. The occasional made 3-pointer was the cherry on top.

In Summer League, Maxey made a habit of firing away on pull-up 3s. While not a lot of them feel, the sheer volume warrants celebration in Philadelphia. Maxey has feather-soft touch, and his desire to improve and implement new skills is virtually unrivaled. There’s every reason to believe he can become a good shooter in time, and he should start hitting more shots as soon as next season.

In 61 games as a rookie, Maxey averaged 8.0 points and 2.0 assists in 15.3 minutes per game. He made a gorgeous 46.2 percent of his field goal attempts too, but only 30.1 percent of his 3s. If that last number takes a significant leap forward, on top of his 3-point volume, then Maxey will start to look really good.