The 2023-24 season has its fair share of ups and downs for the Philadelphia 76ers. One of the biggest highlights for the team and its fans is the emergence of Tyrese Maxey as the bona fide co-star to Joel Embiid.
He’s become one of the team’s most important pillars, which did a lot to help him win this year’s Most Improved Player award. However, it seems like not everyone agrees when it comes to honoring him as the player who made the biggest jump in the NBA.
One analyst points to one important thing about Maxey’s game that makes him the most suitable player for the award, and it’s one that’s hard to deny.
Analyst points to Tyrese Maxey’s improved playmaking with the Philadelphia 76ers as the thing that won him MIP
Forbes’ Bryan Toporek wrote a detailed piece that explained why Maxey’s jump into the Sixers’ number two role is much more impressive compared to the other candidates who could have had a shot at the title this year.
The moment James Harden was shipped off to the Los Angeles Clippers, it was clear that Maxey would get a massive jump in production. The Beard was in charge of many of the things Maxey is thriving on this year, after all.
The most noticeable stat change for casual fans was his scoring. He took a lot more shots for the Philadelphia 76ers this season at 20.3 a game. This increase in shots led to him finishing the regular season with 25.9 points a game.
However, it was clear that he learned a couple of tricks from Harden as he increased his effectiveness as a playmaker. Toporek wrote about this improvement:
He developed vital two-man chemistry with Embiid and learned how to recreate the pocket-pass-to-a-free-throw-line jumper that Harden and Embiid perfected last year.
Maxey clearly spent the past offseason developing his playmaking chops, and it paid off with a career year. While his late-season partnership with Kyle Lowry highlighted the advantages of playing another distributor alongside him—thus allowing Maxey to work both on and off the ball—his balance of playmaking and scoring cemented him as a first-time All-Star.
While the Sixers’ first-round series against the New York Knicks hasn’t been going well , it’s comforting for the team and its fans to know they finally have a capable co-star who will allow Joel Embiid to play with a little more freedom.
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