Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey was thrown into the fire a bit this season. With Ben Simmons away from the team, someone needed to step into the starting point guard role and Maxey, heading into his second season in the NBA, was tabbed as the starter.
The results thus far have been excellent. Maxey was essentially learning how to play point guard, a position he has never previously played full time, on the fly. You would have never known playing point guard was that foreign to him as he took to the position well.
Maxey is averaging 17.2 points per game on 47.7 percent from the field, 40 percent on his 3-point attempts, and 86.9 percent from the foul line. He is grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game to go along with 4.5 assists.
When the team made the trade to acquire James Harden before the deadline from the Brooklyn Nets, many presumed that Maxey’s production would take a hit as his role would be changing. He wouldn’t have the ball in his hands as much as Harden would be the main ball-handler and initiate most of the offense.
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However, through two games with Harden in the lineup, the Philadelphia 76ers’ offense has looked unstoppable and Tyrese Maxey has continued playing at a high level. If anything, the presence of Harden will make things even easier for him.
Maxey can now return to a role that he is more comfortable in as a scorer. He is playing off the ball more and being positively impacted by the attention that James Harden draws, resulting in wide-open jump shots or open lanes to drive to the rim.
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In the two games that Maxey has shared the starting backcourt with Harden, he has scored 49 points, making 20-of-30 shot attempts overall and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. He has pulled down nine rebounds to go along with five assists and six steals, putting a little more energy into the defensive end now that he isn’t using as much energy on offense to run the team.
The Kentucky product looks comfortable playing alongside Harden and his production isn’t taking a hit at all. His assist numbers will likely drop a little bit as he isn’t initiating as much of the offense, but his scoring and efficiency look like they will remain consistent, if not improve a little bit.
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Doc Rivers is still figuring out his new rotation, but staggering Harden and Joel Embiid with one of Maxey and Tobias Harris is what he is trying right now. Maxey is being staggered along with Embiid, and in those situations, his role reverts back to what it was before Harden’s arrival.
Tyrese Maxey is emerging as a much-needed third scorer behind James Harden and Joel Embiid and is thriving in the role. The player that the Philadelphia 76ers have to figure out a way to get going is Tobias Harris, who has been lost in the shuffle a little bit as his usage rate has dropped significantly since Harden was inserted into the lineup.
