76ers' Stars Climb in Updated NBA Player Rankings

Heading into the season, the Philadelphia 76ers were one of the toughest teams to predict. With the James Harden saga still unfolding, nobody knew how things would end up playing out for them. 

In a shocking turn of events, Daryl Morey pulled off a trade in the early days of the regular season. Following the move, the Sixers went on to be one of the hottest teams in the league for a stretch. They've cooled off but still hold a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference. 

A large part of their success has to do with the play of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The reigning MVP continues to be one of the league's most dominant forces, and the Sixers may have found his running mate for the present and future. 

Following their impressive start to the year, the Sixers star got a bump in The Ringer's updated NBA player rankings. Maxey had a much larger leap, with Embiid inching closer to the top spot. 

At the start of the year, Embiid was ranked as the sixth-best player in the league. He now sits at No. 3, trailing only Nikola Jokic and Steph Curry. Embiid has arguably been one of the best all-around players in the league, averaging 32 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and a career-high 6.6 APG. 

In the initial rankings, Maxey came in at No. 52. Now, he is viewed as one of the top 30 players in the league. The Ringer now has Maxey at No. 27, ahead of notable names such as Trae Young and Kyrie Irving. 

Through his first 18 games, Maxey has proven he is capable of putting up star-level numbers. His averages currently sit at 27.0 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 6.7 APG. Maxey is also shooting an efficient 39.6% from beyond the arc on eight attempts per game. 

A third Sixer also appeared on the updated list. Tobias Harris was not ranked the first time around but now sits at No. 65. 

Harris had a scorching hot start to the year as the Sixers' third option again and is still putting up good numbers. The veteran forward is averaging 18.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG on 51/32/88 shooting splits.