The continued absence of James Harden will continue to dominate the Philadelphia 76ers news cycle until he returns to the lineup. With that in mind, while Harden is recovering, the Sixers have to rely on Tyrese Maxey more than ever.
This isn’t the first time that The Sixers Sense has covered how important Maxey is in the absence of the former MVP. However, this is important for Maxey as well. Despite only being in his third season, expectations are high for the 22-year-old as he’s shown significant growth in each of his three seasons. Now is the time for him to deliver on those expectations.
Philadelphia 76ers’ star Tyrese Maxey needs to establish his stardom.
Thus far this season, Maxey has exceeded expectations despite being the third option behind Joel Embiid and James Harden. He’s averaging 22.9 points and 4.1 assists, while shooting 41.2 percent from the 3-point line.
However, in the three games that Harden hasn’t played in, Maxey has failed to impress. He’s averaged 19.0 points and 6.0 assists, while shooting just 26.1 percent from downtown and 29.7 percent overall on his field goal attempts.
The Sixers are going to be without Harden for some time so this level of production from Maxey isn’t going to help him establish himself as a star in this league. What is more important is that it doesn’t help Philly win games.
The 76ers need Maxey to be a star and it’s the natural progression of his career. Now in fairness to Maxey, he’s being defended by the opposing team’s best defender without Harden in the lineup. That’s going to take time to adjust to. However, if he’s proven anything it’s that he can adapt and grow faster than most in this league.
Philly needs Maxey to establish his stardom in order to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference playoff race. He hasn’t done it thus far in the first three games without Harden, but he still has a chance to do so moving forward.