Philadelphia 76ers Star Tyrese Maxey Praised for His Elite Ball Security

76ers All-Star praised for his limited turnovers as a lead guard.

Apr 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) brings the ball up court against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) during the first quarter of game 5 of the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Last season, one of the biggest storylines regarding the Philadelphia 76ers was the emergence of Tyrese Maxey. In his first season as the team's lead guard, he posted career-highs in all major stats and proved he can be a complementary running mate to Joel Embiid.

Dating back to college and his first few years in the NBA, Maxey has never been a full-time point guard. However, when watching him play last season, it did not seem like it. He's continued to grow as a facilitator, but more importantly, his ball security is up there with the top guards in the league.

Despite seeing a drastic increase in time on the ball, Maxey's turnover numbers stayed about the same. He ended up finishing the season with an assist-to-turnover ratio over 3-to-1. For someone who has had to learn to play point guard on the fly in the NBA, that's pretty impressive.

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Before the 2024-25 season gets underway, the people at HoopsHype compiled a list of players who are elite at a hyper-specific skill. Maxey ended up making an appearance on this list for his ability to avoid turnovers.

Avoiding turnovers is the easiest way to generate offense and bolster defense; even a bad shot at least has a slight chance of going in or creating an offensive rebound, and limiting opponents’ fast breaks forces them into more difficult halfcourt possessions. No, it’s not thrilling to look at, but the importance of turnover avoidance can’t be overstated, particularly for a high-workload point guard.

Last season, Maxey dished a career-high 11 assists on four separate occasions. What's most impressive is that in two of those games, he finished with zero turnovers. Taking care of the ball at this high a level does wonders for a team on various fronts. Most importantly, Maxey isn't coughing up the ball and given the opponent extra possessions.

Following his stellar campaign last year, the Sixers will continue to rely on Maxey to be the table-setter for the offense. He'll have an array of new weapons around him next season, including another star-level player in Paul George.