When a championship-caliber team has young talent that can be relied upon and considered a future star, that is a huge win for that team.
The Philadelphia 76ers have that guy: Tyrese Maxey. The third-year guard out of Kentucky, at 21 years old, has been terrific to begin his NBA career. He has been on another level out on the floor, and he is considered the next big star in the league.
Therefore, Maxey gets a lot of praise for his work helping the Sixers in their title quest. Bleacher Report has ranked the top 25 players under the age of 25 and Maxey comes in ranked 17th on that list:
Maxey has not gone kaboom to start the season, but efficiency gets skewed by the game this time of year, and, uh, he’s still clearing 20 points per game. The set 3-point shot will be fine, and Philly’s lanes shouldn’t seem so crowded if head coach Doc Rivers ever gives them the license (mandate?) to play with any semblance of pace whatsoever.
Regardless, last year laid the groundwork for Maxey’s trajectory. He was equally revelatory as the Sixers’ second most important player and their James Harden and Joel Embiid complement. The latter is now his indefinite normal, and even if he seems criminally underutilized, he’s wired to thrive.
To wit: After Harden made his Philly debut, Maxey parlayed blindingly fast straight-line speed and improved shooting into third-option dominance, averaging 18.7 points and 3.5 assists per game on a supernova 48 percent clip from downtown—proof his rising star can and will sustain every imaginable iteration of the Sixers.
Maxey will certainly be a huge piece of whatever Philadelphia plans to do in the 2022-23 season. If the Sixers want to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy, they need Maxey to give a big boost to James Harden and Joel Embiid.
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