WASHINGTON — The Philadelphia 76ers pulled the trigger on a big deal at Thursday’s deadline when they acquired Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers. The idea is to have Hield’s shooting and gravity make an impact for Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid in the future.
While Embiid is still out with the injury, the Sixers got to see Hield play with Maxey on Saturday in a 119-113 win over the Washington Wizards. The results were encouraging. Maxey had 28 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists while Hield had 23 points, six assists, five rebounds, and four steals.
Maxey and Hield were able to play off each other. The Wizards had a tough time deciding whether they were going to leave Maxey on the drive or leave Hield open from deep.
“It was great,” Maxey said of playing with Hield. “It was great. I mean, we know what he brings into to this team. That shooting. That gravity, honestly, you know, you can’t leave a guy like that. And if you do, he’s gonna make you pay.”
Hield, of course, has played with a dynamic point guard before in the form of Tyrese Haliburton with the Pacers. Now, he’s playing with Maxey who is a little different than Haliburton in terms of their play style.
“It was good,” Hield said of playing with Maxey. “I played with the other Tyrese before, but they both can shoot the ball at a high rate and one thing with this Tyrese, he’s able to get downhill faster. You can see his first step is elite, and just learning. The first game learning, watching film, and how he can help me, how I can help him. how we can help this team and how we can rack up some wins moving forward.”
Saturday was a great first step for both Maxey and Hield. The goal now is to build off this and grow for the future. The Sixers will need them to grow this partnership in the backcourt in order to have a chance in the future.
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