76ers Veterans See ‘Tremendous Growth’ in Tyrese Maxey

Tyrese Maxey is looking to take another big leap in his fourth season with the 76ers.

Heading into his fourth NBA season, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey is still making significant strides in his growth and development. That’s crazy to think, considering how quickly he’s emerged into one of the league’s most productive young guards.

Following his lone season at Kentucky, Maxey appeared in 61 games during his rookie effort. Averaging 15 minutes on the court, Maxey accounted for a modest eight points and two rebounds per game while hitting on just 30 percent of his threes.

Coming into the NBA, Maxey’s biggest knock was his long-range shooting, which is something the Sixers acknowledged and claimed to have little worry about. Four years later, their lack of fear was warranted, as Maxey’s relentless work ethic caused him to take advantage of the significant playing time that came his way from his sophomore effort and beyond.

Sixers' Tyrese Maxey gears up for his fourth NBA season.  / USA Today

During year two, Maxey started in a career-high 74 games. Spending 35 minutes on the court per game, he produced 18 points and three assists per game. Last season, Maxey faced some adversity with a foot injury and a temporary role switch midway through the year, which caused him to come off the bench for a chunk of games, but he still thrived.

In 60 games, Maxey averaged 20 points and four rebounds while suddenly establishing himself as one of the NBA’s most consistent three-point shooters, drilling 43 percent of his attempts. 

To a player like Danny Green, who was around for the first two seasons of Maxey’s three-year run and now back for another stint after being away last season, Maxey looks developed further.

“Tremendous amount of growth,” Green said of Maxey this week at training camp. 

“He jokes with me all the time because he says during his rookie year, I said he couldn’t shoot. That wasn’t the statement. It was a comparison to somebody else. The scouting report back then was you could go under Tyrese. He’s so fast you don’t want him to get to the rim. Now, there’s no going; he jumped probably ten percent from that year to now shooting behind the arc. Just controlling the tempo, running the offense, even defensively getting more active, and then rebounding and doing the little things. He’s the ultimate professional, even before he got here, but he’s just making tremendous strides and growing as a player.”

Over the last three years, Maxey’s range has been an area of focus. This season, his playmaking will be under a microscope as there’s a high chance he could see more minutes at the point guard position, depending on how the James Harden saga plays out.

Fortunately, 76ers center Joel Embiid is already seeing the offseason work transition well into training camp. After spending some training sessions with Maxey and his personal trainer, Drew Hanlen, during the summer, Embiid is noticing Maxey’s growth in the playmaking department.

“Playmaking-wise, he’s already gotten way better,” Embiid added. “Obviously, we got to wait until a game and see how other teams guard us, but I think he’s gonna make a huge improvement when it comes to that.”

Tyrese Maxey Earns High Praise From Sixers Newcomers

Maxey’s behind-the-back pass in an X clip had fans claiming he resembled Harden, who led the league in assists per game last year. Embiid went as far as saying if Maxey can bring the passing he’s put on display in Colorado to the regular season on a nightly basis, then the young guard could be headed toward earning his first All-Star nod.