This offseason the focus for the fans of the Philadelphia 76ers has been James Harden and other players acquired in the offseason. Rightfully so, if Harden returns to his pre-hamstring form, the Sixers have a legit chance to win it all, especially with the additions of P.J. Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and De’Anthony Melton.
However, the biggest x-factor for the 76ers this offseason is the development of Tyrese Maxey who’s entering his third season. A real argument could have been made that Maxey should have won the Most Improved Player award last season.
He saw a big jump in his stats from year one to year two as can be seen in the graphic below.
| Season | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | 2P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | NBA | SG | 61 | 8 | 15.3 | .462 | .301 | .512 | .498 | .871 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 8.0 |
| 2021-22 | NBA | PG | 75 | 74 | 35.3 | .485 | .427 | .512 | .552 | .866 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 17.5 |
| Career | NBA | 136 | 82 | 26.4 | .478 | .396 | .512 | .535 | .867 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 13.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/20/2022.
There’s no denying Maxey made significant strides last season. However, there’s a chance he can make an even more impressive leap into an All-Star level player next season. If he does, he has to improve in the three following areas.
3 improvements that would make Maxey an All-Star: Playmaking
Let’s not forget that Maxey isn’t a natural playmaker. He’s a score-first guard like former Sixers guards like Lou Williams and Allen Iverson before him. That being written, Maxey’s never been a reckless ball handler either.
His stats prove it. His career average is 0.9 turnovers per game and last season he averaged 4.3 assists. However, while Maxey is a responsible playmaker, sometimes he’s been too conservative in that role.
The good news is that with Harden, Maxey won’t be asked to be the primary playmaker while sharing the court with the former MVP. However, he will have to be the primary playmaker most times when Harden’s not in the game and he is.
Unless Maxey is averaging over 25 points per game, which seems unlikely, his game needs more balance at the guard position which means adding more playmaking to his game. He has to become more aggressive and willing to take risks as a playmaker moving forward.