The Philadelphia 76ers have some good young players on their roster who have the potential to be long-term fits in this league. They have players such as Matisse Thybulle who is in his second season as well as Tyrese Maxey who has made a big impact as a rookie.
Luckily, both of those players have a couple of stars they can lean on to grab some advice when it’s needed.
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are two guys who will lead the way both on and off the floor. He has been terrific in terms of their production and they have continued to take steps forward as the leaders of this team and that is exactly what they have done with Maxey.
“I learn something new from them every single day,” said the rookie. “Joel makes sure that in every walkthrough, I’m involved in everything, he never lets me stay on the side, and he’s always coming to me saying ‘Get on, get on. We’re gonna need you. Get on’.”
Then there is Simmons who plays the same position and he is the star leader of the team on the offensive end. There is so much Simmons does on the floor in terms of creating his offense for the team and being able to make sure the team can get the types of open looks they need in order to run things smoothly.
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“Then Ben, he talks to me every single time I get in the game,” Maxey said. “He’s always helping me out so I always say we have the best vets in the league and those two are just another example of that.”
Maxey played well in Wednesday’s Game 2 win over the Washington Wizards as he showed off an ability to get to the basket as he scored 10 points all in the second half. He was the first guard off the bench in the second half over Shake Milton and when Seth Curry went down with a left ankle sprain, coach Doc Rivers ended up turning to his rookie.
“It wasn’t a reaction to Seth at all,” said Rivers. “I actually told him at halftime, he’d be playing in the second half. We’ll see. I don’t comment about player’s minutes and all that stuff, but he earned it. He was fantastic. His speed was a difference-maker.”
The Sixers will now travel to D.C. on Saturday for Game 3 of this series where Maxey figures to be featured in the rotation a bit more.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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