After shocking the NBA community by somehow acquiring Jaylen Brown through a blockbuster trade early in the offseason, the Philadelphia 76ers are now widely reckoned as one of the teams to beat in the upcoming campaign. However, fans and pundits alike have expressed concerns about what could be a budding issue for this group in its effort to spread the wealth with the ball. Fortunately, Tyrese Maxey can turn this concern into a strength with his overlooked off-ball capabilities.
Brown can help Maxey thrive off-ball
Sure, adding Brown –– an MVP candidate from last season who is just coming off his most prominent on-ball role yet –– to a core that already features Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe certainly raises some concerns about ball movement in the starting unit. That being said, people tend to forget that the 76ers will actually benefit from having another ball-dominant star, as it will give Maxey a bigger window to operate off the ball.
Thanks to the team missing Embiid and Paul George (before he got traded) for significant chunks of the season, Philly had no choice but to overtax Maxey as an on-ball distributor and shot creator when his skill set revolves primarily around his ability to hit shots from anywhere on the floor. That dynamic will now change with the arrival of Brown, and it is only bound to benefit the team for the most part.
76ers are already silencing their preseason critics thanks to Maxey
Maxey just turned in his most impressive season yet, and that engine is not going to slow down. The 76ers will keep giving him a ton of reps with the ball, but that is not to say that his role will not be streamlined. With someone like Brown now in the fold, the coaching staff will be more incentivized than before to give the guard more leeway as an actual play finisher and not an exclusive initiator.
Brown had the third-highest usage rate in the NBA last season, while Maxey was 22nd among all qualified players. Expect both figures to steadily decline in the 2026-27 campaign. Embiid, who finished just behind Brown at No. 4 in the list, should also see his usage rate go down quite a bit.
Ordinarily, that would jumpstart a decline when it comes to actual on-court production, but that is not necessarily the case with Maxey.
Among the 76ers' new core four, he is easily the best off-ball operator, so even if the team will have a more difficult time finding a harmonious balance when it comes to handling the ball, they can rest assured that Maxey will remain a highly lethal scoring option.
Add us as a preferred source on Google