Philadelphia 76ers rookie Tyrese Maxey fell to the team at 21 in the 2020 NBA draft and there were a lot of questions about why that happened. He was a lottery talent and he had a solid season at Kentucky, but for whatever reason, he fell into Philadelphia’s laps.
He has proven to be a solid player for the Sixers becoming one of their top players off the bench and he had another good performance on Monday scoring 11 points in the win over the Charlotte Hornets and he knocked down two triples which has been something he is working on every day to improve on.
“The first thing he told me when he came off the court was ‘I shot it’ because I’ve been telling him every single time just shoot it,” said Joel Embiid. “Especially, when I kick out and he’s wide open that. Just let it fly if you miss who cares? If you make it, good, on to the next shot.”
Maxey’s work ethic has been spoken about in the past and it is that willingness to want to learn and get better combined with his natural talent that excites the Sixers moving forward.
“There’s this narrative out there that the reason he went down in the draft is because people didn’t think he can’t shoot and I haven’t seen a lick of that,” said coach Doc Rivers. “I think he’s an excellent shooter and he’ll just keep getting better, once he’s ready and takes a shot, he’s good. He has great speed, he’s gonna be a terrific player for us and we’re very lucky that he fell to us.”
To Rivers’ point, Maxey did shoot 29.2% from deep in college. That may have scared some teams away and the Sixers should feel fortunate that he fell into their lap. They now have a legitimate slasher and scorer off their bench who can also handle the ball and run the offense.
“As far as shooting, I work extremely hard,” said Maxey. “I’m in the gym every single day, multiple times a day working, making a lot of shots so I have confidence in myself.”
As long as Maxey continues to work hard, he’s going to be a solid player in this league. That is what is most important to Embiid and the rest of the team.
“He’s been doing a great job,” the big fella added. “He just comes in every single day, he wants to learn. He does his job and he’s been it’s been great.”
The Sixers will now move on to host the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.
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