Being a rookie in the NBA in 2020 is a tough task for anybody. The draft was on Nov. 18 and they were then thrown into the fire roughly two weeks later to begin training camp and then had to pick things up quickly before opening night.
For Philadelphia 76ers rookie Tyrese Maxey, he had it even tougher as he was not able to even join the team until about a week into camp after undergoing COVID-19 protocols. However, he has been able to pick things up relatively quickly in camp.
“I think just his motor,” Matisse Thybulle said of Maxey. “I think defensively, he’s got a really high motor, and he’s strong for being a young kid so he’s not dying on screens. He gets through, make second efforts, and these are things that go a long way. These are things that got me on the court last season so it’s cool to see him coming in with that and taking pride in doing it. He’s off to a great start.”
The defensive aspect can be a hard thing for some guys to pick up on when they enter the league. Some players gamble too much and it can lead to being beat on a couple of different simple plays and it can lead to a lot of fouls.
“You can see Maxey, defensively especially, knows how not to get picked, knows how to fight through picks, stays in front of the ball, talks on defense, for a rookie that’s unheard of,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He’s doing all those things.”
On top of that, Maxey will be featured prominently in Rivers’ rotation. He will have the role of being not only a ball-handler but also as a shooter and a guy who will facilitate a lot of the offense.
“Our system probably would lead to him being on the ball a lot, but we don’t have a point guard-oriented system where it’s one guy coming down calling sets every time,” Rivers explained. “It’s more of a motion system. That’s what I’ve run for the most part, unless I’ve had a (Rajon) Rondo or Chris Paul, all those other years, it was more motion offense. You still need someone to start it. Maxey would be one of the guys that can do that.”
Maxey is known for having a maniacal work ethic that should serve him well in the league for a long time and it has helped him prove his shot. He did not shoot the ball well from deep in college, but so far in camp, he has been knocking down shots.
“He was great,” said veteran Mike Scott. “He was making plays offensively, he was hitting threes, his defense was great. He’s active, he’s communicating, but the best thing about him is that he’s willing to listen, wanting to learn, and asking questions. He’s getting off to a great start. Today, I thought it was one of his best days. I thought he was the MVP of today.”
It does help that Maxey went to Kentucky and he played under coach John Calipari who has an excellent reputation of getting guys ready to go for the next level of playing in the NBA.
“I’ve always liked Kentucky guys early in their careers, because I think Cal does a great job of preparing them how to play NBA basketball and just play basketball, in general,” Rivers added. “You get a lot of these guys out of college and they know how to run their system, whatever system they played, they can run that but they can’t naturally play basketball. I always thought to Kentucky guys, Villanova guys as well, they come out and they know how to play basketball.” [lawrence-related id=40187,40162,40159]