The Sixer Sense
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Sixers Media Day: Tyrese Maxey Talks Contract Extension, James Harden Drama

By Michael Greger

Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrese Maxey (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Philadelphia 76ers, Tyrese Maxey (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /
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The main talking point at Sixers Media Day on October 2 had more to do with what the team didn’t do than what they did do. The overwhelming opinion among the so-called experts is that the front office sat on their hands as the rest of the Eastern Conference got better. The Milwaukee Bucks traded for Damian Lillard. The Boston Celtics added Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. And you could argue the Cleveland Cavaliers improved with the additions of Max Strus and Georges Niang.

Meanwhile, the Sixers let the James Harden situation play out in a very public manner. It wasn’t their choice for it to happen that way but it did. Harden and the front office remain in a stalemate as the team jets off to Colorado for the start of training camp. They will be bringing a few new names on the flight: Mo Bamba, Kelly Oubre Jr., Patrick Beverley, plus the return of Danny Green.

“We come in here every day and feel like we’re going to show the league that this is a team that can win,” said Daryl Morey, President of Basketball Operations. “Let us show you. Let us show you in the regular season, let us show you in the playoffs. So I would ask for that.”

Is it enough Can we take Morey at his word?

Joel Embiid thinks so. Ditto for Tyrese Maxey.

“I think we made moves to improve our team,” Maxey said. “We added guys. I think we have guys already here who are ready to step up and perform. And you don’t really worry about what everybody else is doing outside of our organization. This is our organization. We are one group. And we go out there and try to compete every single night at the highest level.

“At the end of the day, we have the reigning MVP on our team and he’s really good at basketball. We have other guys, too. We have Tobias [Harris], we have Melt [De’Anthony Melton] … we have guys we brought in like Kelly Oubre, Pat Bev, you know vets like that. So we’re going to go out there and be competitive and compete and we all know what the ultimate goal is.”