What can the Sixers expect from the sophomore players?

What can the Sixers expect from the sophomore players: Tyrese Maxey

Tyrese Maxey turned out to be a gift for the Sixers when he fell to them at number 21 pick in the 2020 NBA draft. It’s rare a player drafted that late turns out to be a playoff contributor like Tyrese Maxey was during the last couple of games in the Hawks series.

With that success though, comes automatically high expectations for Maxey. The preseason has shown he’s up for reaching those expectations.

We are already seeing the improvements over his game from last year. He is stepping into threes more confidently and has even knocked down a few step-backs from deep.

Maxey has averaged three attempts beyond the arc throughout this preseason in 21 minutes per contest. In the entirety of last season, Maxey only had nine games of three or more attempts from deep, despite playing in 61 games at 15 minutes per game. Continuing to improve his shooting efficiency will be essential to how dangerous he can be as a scorer.

The guard from Kentucky also seems to be quickly learning where to pick his spots for layups, floaters, and his mid-range game. He shot 50.0 percent from the field in the three exhibition games, which is up from his 46.0 percent mark from last year. These improvements allowed Maxey to average around 13.0 points per game in these games. Fans should see this as a great indicator of what to expect from Maxey this season.

Maxey needs to be a scoring punch for the Sixers this season, whether that be from leading the bench squad or playing alongside Joel Embiid in the starting lineup. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone if he averages between 10-15 points per game.

Outside of Jimmy Butler and Seth Curry, the Sixers haven’t had a true shot-creating guard since the start of “The Process”. Maxey has a chance to offer the scoring, playmaking, and pick-and-roll play that the Sixers have desperately needed since it began.

Head Coach Doc Rivers says that he also see Maxey being a key player for the team this year.

“Big role. With or without Ben,” said Rivers when asked about how big of an impact Maxey will have with Ben Simmons possibly not playing, per Rich Hoffman of The Athletic.

On both sides of the ball, Maxey needs to be a spark for this Sixers team, and he should be able to do it. It’s reasonable to expect big things from Maxey this year, whether that be as a high level sixth man or a lead guard as a starter.