Tyrese Maxey Maintains Impressive Playmaking After Win vs. Wizards

Originally posted on Philadelphia 76ers on SI
By Justin Grasso | Last updated Dec 7, 2023 4:52 PM ET

Can Tyrese Maxey fill the void of James Harden in the playmaking department for the Philadelphia 76ers? That was the most popular question throughout the 2023 offseason, as James Harden’s trade demand was likely going to result in the ten-time All-Star not playing for the Sixers again.

Last season, Harden proved to be one of the NBA’s best playmakers, leading the league in assists per game. With the ball going in Maxey’s hands, making him the primary playmaker in Harden’s absence, he had big shoes to fill.

Prior to Harden’s arrival in Philadelphia during the 2021-2022 NBA season, Maxey played point guard in the absence of the disgruntled Ben Simmons. At the time, Maxey averaged 4.6 assists per game while turning the ball over on average 1.2 times over the course of 51 games.

When Harden arrived, Maxey shifted to the shooting guard spot for the remainder of the 2021-2022 season and stuck there throughout the 2022-2023 run as well. With Harden missing the Sixers’ first three games of the season and getting traded in October, Maxey is once again in the driver’s seat of the Sixers’ offense.

So far, he’s boosted his assist numbers while maintaining an impressively low turnover rate, holding the best assist-to-turnover ratio in his organization since the late 90s.

Through his first 19 appearances this year, Maxey has averaged a league-high 38 minutes per game. He’s dishing out a career-high 6.7 assists per game, which is a three-assist jump from his career average. Maxey was always recognized as a guard who takes care of the ball, averaging just 1.1 turnovers per game through his first three seasons.

However, he wasn’t making passes as frequently as this year. Yet, he’s still averaging just 1.5 turnovers per game. With a turnover percentage of six percent, Maxey ranks in the 97th percentile for NBA point guards this year, according to Cleaning the Glass. Only Washington’s Tyus Jones ranks higher.

A fourth-year jump in all key departments was expected for Maxey, who has developed in a positive direction each and every year since he was drafted out of Kentucky in 2020. Once a questionable three-point shooter, Maxey is now one of the NBA’s most consistent shooters from deep.

And after averaging just 13 points per game through his sophomore effort, Maxey has upped his production in the scoring department beyond 20 points per game since last season.

Playmaking was the next step for the young guard, and so far, he’s been dishing out assists at a higher rate while continuing to take care of the ball. There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played this year, but Maxey continues to improve as an all-around point guard for the 76ers.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia 76ers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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