Sixers: Ranking every player on the roster after James Harden trade

Ranking every Sixers player — 3. Tyrese Maxey

The 76ers game last Thursday night perfectly summed up who Tyrese Maxey has been so far this year.  He finished with 19 points and provided his usual steady hand with the ball, but he faded in and out of his time on the court, sometimes disappearing for long stretches, while still showing the scoring explosiveness that has many wondering if Maxey might be an All-Star someday.  He scored 14 of the team’s 16 points during a two and a half minute stretch late in the second quarter, single-handedly lifting the Sixers from down by 10 points to up by two.  It was an impressive, dominant burst, followed by a second half where he scored just three points.

Maxey’s ability to learn the most difficult position in basketball has been a joy to watch and he has been breathtaking at times, but he has struggled to know exactly what his role is, depending upon who he shares the court with.  He defers too often to Joel Embiid (a fine line to be sure), but has proven that he can take over when he is given the green light to look for his shot.

It has been a luxury having Maxey to turn to in the absence of Ben Simmons, and while he does not give the team the high assist numbers that Simmons did, he values the ball and very rarely turns it over. In fact, his assist to turnover ratio, the hallmark of a good point guard, is 4.6 to 1.2 (almost an unheard of 4-1!), significantly better than Simmons’ career rate of 7.7 to 3.4 (2.26 to 1).

With the addition of James Harden, the trick for the Sixers now is to find the best way to utilize the ultra-talented Maxey without allowing him to disappear on the court.  Harden and Embiid are known commodities and that pair will have to find chemistry, no doubt. But the real key to how far the team will go this year lies in their ability to turn Tyrese into their third star. (Harris will shine in a lesser role, and the fans aren’t paying his salary so there’s no sense getting upset about it.) If they can keep encouraging Maxey to look for his shot and find ways to get good shots for all of their scorers, this team has as much firepower as anyone in the league. Make no mistake, Harden and Embiid are the stars and have to play that way, but the Sixers will succeed or fail depending upon how much consistent aggressiveness they are able to get out of Tyrese Maxey.

— Matt  Cahill