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On Thursday, projected first-round Tyrese Maxey participated in the Klutch Sports Group Pro Day in Los Angeles with Anthony Edwards, an event that had LeBron James, Anthony Davis and other clientele of Rich Paul in attendance.
Maxey went through several on-court drills throughout the workout, which was televised on ESPN2. In one sequence, the former Kentucky guard got particularly hot from 3-point range and was locked in. Of course, a 1-on-0 workout is hardly beneficial to teams but Maxey showed off his improved game.
During the segment, Kentucky head coach John Calipari spoke on the broadcast about his former player. Calipari compared Maxey to Jamal Murray, who played at Kentucky during the 2015-16 season, due to his ability on both sides of the ball and his hustle on every play.
Tyrese Maxey reminded of Jamal Murray. Jamal is a little bit bigger, probably 6-foot-5 but the same kind of player — on the ball, off the ball, fight to defend, deflect balls, rebounds above the rim. I laugh, every day I walked in the kid had a smile on his face. It’s a spirit about him of what he could do. You look at him, what you see, where you think he could be, he goes.
Our kids here are not pigeon-holed into one position; they’re taught basketball. When you watch him, how he shoots it, his runners, his handle, his physicalness, if anybody passes on him in a certain range, it’s kinda like gonna be the Jamal thing; he’s going to be that guy.
Maxey averaged 14 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 31 games played last season with the Wildcats, earning Second Team All-SEC honors in the process. He is projected to be a lottery pick given his ability to impact games on both ends of the floor.
The New York Knicks are said to be interested in Maxey, according to a recent report. The Knicks have been rumored into wanting to trade down into the middle of the first round in the draft, and if they did, they would target Maxey.
In all likelihood, Maxey will be taken by the middle of the first round but if he slips further than that, a team could potentially be getting a steal given his potential in the backcourt.
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