Coming into the regular season there was a lot of focus on what the Philadelphia 76ers would do with their starting point guard spot. They are in a standoff with NBA All-Star Ben Simmons, their usual starting point guard, over his future with the team. Simmons wants to be traded while the 76ers remain steadfast in their asking price and are holding out hope that he will return to play for them.
They had hoped the situation would be resolved before the start of the regular season, but that did not occur. Now 16 games into the regular season there is still no resolution to the Simmons situation.
Having to move on with their season, the 76ers had to find someone to man the starting point guard spot. Head coach Doc Rivers tabbed second-year player Tyrese Maxey as his starter and the results have been positive.
Maxey was the No. 21 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and had a second unit role with the 76ers, appearing in 61 games and averaging 15.1 minutes per game. This season he has seen his minutes jump to 35.7 per game and he has taken full advantage.
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While Maxey isn’t the versatile, impactful defender that Simmons was, he is more than making up for it with his offense. Maxey has helped take the 76ers offense to a level they were unable to achieve with Simmons running the show.
On the season, the Kentucky product is averaging 17.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He has a strong shooting split of .523/.434/.841, equating to an effective field goal percentage of 57.7.
His ability to be a threat and score at every level of the court has helped the 76ers reach No. 3 in offensive rating in the NBA according to Basketball-Reference. The 2018-19 season was the only time the 76ers finished better than 12th in the NBA in offensive rating with Simmons running the show.
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This leap in production is something the Philadelphia 76ers have to be happy with. He has done an excellent job holding down the starting spot as Simmons remains away from the team. His development should also open things up when it comes to trade negotiations involving Simmons as Daryl Morey no longer needs to get a point guard back in return.
Tyrese Maxey has done more than enough to retain the starting job going forward and he should only get better with the more experience and development he gets.
