Embrace Tyrese Maxey in the Starting Five
If Ben Simmons does not return to the Philadelphia 76ers, they will have an opening in their starting rotation. Maybe Seth Curry will make the move from shooting guard to point guard, but the 76ers would be much better off replacing Simmons with second-year guard Tyrese Maxey.
Philadelphia drafted Maxey in the first round last year for a reason and the soon-to-be 21-year-old has a chance to have a big breakout second season in the NBA. Maxey participated in Summer League this offseason and while he only played in two games, he was fantastic, averaging 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and shooting 50% from the floor.
Embracing Tyrese Maxey in this starting rotation could be a great move for the 76ers to make in the “post-Simmons era,” especially since he had success on the court in the postseason last year with Simmons off the floor.
In their first-round series against the Washington Wizards, Tyrese Maxey scored 10-plus points in three of the five games he played in off-the-bench and he averaged 9.0 points per game for the series while shooting 60% from the floor.
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Against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Maxey did not play as often as the series before, but he did see a playoff career-high 29 minutes in a Game 6 victory in which the rookie at the time went for 16 points and 7 rebounds.
He is not an elite-level defender like Simmons and is only 6’2” compared to the 7-footer, but Tyrese Maxey can score off-the-dribble and would take a lot of pressure off of both Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid to create for everyone.
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Tyrese Maxey is a “score-first” guard and he is not a true point guard in the sense that he can create opportunities for others, but in a starting role, he could really grow into an offensive threat for Philadelphia.
