While the Philadelphia 76ers are slowly humming, some of their fellow teams are undergoing a drastic shift as franchises. Fortunately, they are set to avoid that same fate thanks to Tyrese Maxey, who is just cut from a different cloth.
Over the last couple of days, the NBA landscape had already shifted by some. The Hawks have officially parted ways with Trae Young, ending almost a decade-long partnership by trading the All-Star guard to the Wizards. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have reportedly made Ja Morant available in trades, setting the stage for another exodus by a franchise star point guard.
The 76ers are similar to those teams in that they are also building around a point guard, but the comparison ends there. Given how the franchise is set up, there is no chance that Philly ends up even flirting with that outcome.
The 76ers are set to flip the trend with Tyrese Maxey
Of course, there is some notable variance in the operative context surrounding those teams. Young and Morant have always been the centerpieces for their respective franchises, while Maxey has only emerged as the nominal alpha this year. Hence, the sample size is not adequate enough for the 76ers to even make a definitive judgment as to how viable having Maxey as the No. 1 guy is.
Having said that, the 76ers edge the Hawks and the Grizzlies in the way they have approached team-building. Philly had probably anticipated Joel Embiid passing the torch sooner than later, surrounding their nucleus with players who can complement and not clash with their core guys. In that regard, Maxey has VJ Edgecombe who will be with him for a long time, and both players mesh well together.
Atlanta and Memphis made mistakes in building their rosters which led to the actual or apparent exits of their stars. The Hawks tried different co-stars next to Young, and all of them did not pan out. When they got him a younger and better supporting cast, it was just too late.
On the flip side, the Grizzlies had an astounding start to the Morant era, but their front office made the lethal decision to strip them of their identity by getting rid of the players that embodied that particular styling. Now, they are still paying the price.
Hopefully, these are lessons the 76ers front office can learn from. Fortunately for them, they already have a headstart in bucking that sudden trend thanks to Tyrese Maxey, who is simply made different.