The Philadelphia 76ers may have brewed their own cup of problems

The Philadelphia 76ers find themselves as unexpected cellar dwellers to begin the season. In possession of a measly 2-10 record, all but one team touts a better win-loss card at this juncture, a deflating development for a franchise that has already laid down everything on the table for a shot at the championship.

A big factor to their slow end is the endless bout of the team’s stars with the injury bug. Tyrese Maxey, who carried the team on his back earlier, had just fallen pray to the same not too long ago, causing him to miss five games since then. The result? Just a single dub during that difficult span.

Help is on the way for Philly, though, as last season’s Most Improved Player seems poised to rejoin the team on the court shortly thanks to a recent encouraging injury update. However, attendant to that is a very tough call that the 76ers will have to make very soon.

The 76ers will have a very tough call to make when Tyrese Maxey returns

The return of Maxey will give the 76ers a great, yet potentially polarizing dilemma — what is then the move to make with regard to Jared McCain, who has quickly climbed the franchise’s pecking order with his rapid ascent into being one of the league’s brightest young stars and the best player in his draft class as of this moment?

McCain, who has more than adequately filled in for Maxey, is way too good to stunt his development by shackling him to the confines of a typical role for a rookie, one that presupposes a demotion upon the return of the established counterpart.

Maxey will start no matter what happens, but does that mean the coaching staff will simply plug McCain next to the All-Star? The reasonable answer is a short yes, but the question begs a less visceral look than just that.

Nick Nurse’s lineup tendency with the opening group is to start his five best players outright, a practice he has maintained since he was manning the sidelines in Toronto. However, an argument could also be made that starting McCain may not be the best way to optimize the team’s litany of scorers.

Playing next to Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George would clearly mean less touches for the now-prized rookie, and that could mean taking away valuable on-ball reps on both scoring and playmaking, which he is still nurturing at this stage.

As a result, it could strike a better balance to have him as a super-sub, a la Manu Ginobili or Jamal Crawford, to kick his career off. That way, he will not have to conform to a more limited role.

This is clearly a problem, albeit a good one, to have for the Philadelphia 76ers. Hopefully, the coaching staff can put out an optimal configuration that would best serve both Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain moving forward.