3 Sixers Takeaways: 54 Reasons The Future Belongs To Tyrese Maxey

Early-season NBA headlines have focused mainly on injuries to star players, infatuation with TV ratings, and projections for playoff games that won’t happen for five months.

The Philadelphia 76ers, meanwhile, have an emerging superstar taking continuous steps toward greatness. Tyrese Maxey set a new career high with 54 points in a victory against the Milwaukee Bucks to finish a 2-1 week for the Sixers.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid didn’t touch the court, but the crowd in Milwaukee saw a superstar effort anyway. The Sixers snuck away with an exhilarating overtime victory that forced Doc Rivers to tip his cap in defeat.

Maxey became the second player in NBA history to reach 50 points and nine assists after Wilt Chamberlain set the obscure benchmark in 1968.  

The 24-year-old point guard has emerged as the type of floor general a team looks to for a key bucket in all circumstances. His stepback three-pointer from the road logo early in the fourth quarter showed the killer instinct that characterizes the NBA’s most accomplished stars. It sent him to the 40-point plateau, but he was far from finished.

Tyrese Maxey trails only Luka Doncic for the league's highest scoring average after the explosion for 54. He leads the Association with an astonishing 40.7 minutes per game.

Matt Murphy pointed out some incredible symmetry on the 97.5 The Fanatic Sixers Postgame Show. Maxey’s accomplishment came in the throwback black jerseys against the same opponent Allen Iverson torched in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals. 

It's no wonder the listeners flocked to the 97.5 The Fanatic Watch Party to hear Bill Colarulo's instant, live breakdown of an exhilarating win.

The impact of Joel Embiid’s knee injuries will naturally control the chatter, but the Sixers played the first 12 games of the 2025-26 season without another perennial All-NBA selection.

Paul George finally made his season debut on Monday. He anxiously started fast with the first five points of the game against the Los Angeles Clippers, the team he spent five seasons with before signing with the Sixers in 2024.

George sat the front end of the back-to-back against the Raptors, but he made his biggest splash against the Bucks. He showed a veteran vengeance with Philadelphia's first 11 points of the game.

The 35-year-old has shown willingness to fire from three-point range. He went 4-7 from beyond the arc on his way to 21 points in 25 minutes.

Nick Nurse talked about how he’s looked forward to seeing George on the floor for his defensive ability in particular. 

The grizzled vet might not regain the offensive or defensive impact from his peak NBA seasons. While he'll also sit back-to-backs and play on a minute restriction, he adds a track record to the Sixers that they miss with Joel Embiid on the sidelines.

Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe have sprinted out of the gates into the NBA's top two spots in minutes per game. They’ve both told Nurse that they’re not interested in extra rest so early in the season. However, adding a reputable veteran like Paul George in his return from injury forces defenses to respect another player capable of reaching a star level.

When the Sixers signed Andre Drummond entering the 2024-25 season, they envisioned a top-tier backup center who could offset Embiid’s load management as an ideal fill-in starter. The 6-foot-11 center only played 40 games in a disappointing first season of a two-year, $10 million contract.

Adem Bona played well during the 2025 preseason, and he looked like he could become the primary backup center behind Joel Embiid.

Drummond, however, finally looks more like the dominant rebounder Daryl Morey was expecting. 

Embiid remains day-to-day with a right knee issue, and Bona has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle. However, Drummond has worked the paint well to establish himself as Nurse’s primary big man, at least in the short term.

Drummond controlled the glass with 18 rebounds against the Clippers. He admitted late last season that a great toe injury impacted a player whose main skill is rebounding more than he could’ve imagined. He’s averaged 9.6 rebounds this season and 14.9 rebounds per 36 minutes.

The Sixers are thin in the frontcourt. Drummond fouled out against the Bucks and forced them to play with minimal rim protection in a smaller lineup.

The 14th-year NBA veteran has developed as a three-point shooter unexpectedly. He’s 7-18 from beyond the arc this season. If he continues to develop the additional skill in his artillery, he’ll at the very least force defenses to respect his shot and loosen coverages for his teammates.