Is Tyrese Maxey Getting Even Better??
Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers played in their 2nd preseason game of 2022 as they continue their gear up towards the regular season opener on October 18th in Boston. There’s only so much that can be taken out of exhibitions like NBA preseason games, but there are still certain things that can flash brighter than others when it comes to games that otherwise don’t matter. Last night, one of those things was the play of 3rd year guard Tyrese Maxey. While that’s nothing new for Sixers fans in a vacuum, there’s something that folks who watched the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers slowly noticed as the game went on: Maxey looks like he’s gotten even better over this offseason.
Last year, Tyrese Maxey broke onto the scene as a candidate for the NBA’s Most Improved Player in the absence of Ben Simmons, averaging 17.5 ppg, 4.3 apg, and 3.2 rpg on 42.7% 3 point shooting (3rd most in the ENTIRE NBA!!). It was a huge improvement from his rookie year, and confirmed what we had heard about Maxey since he first entered the league out of the University of Kentucky: the dude is an absolute gym rat. Now, that’s essentially everybody in the NBA; these guys are at the peak of their sport because of a lot of hard work and willpower. That being said, though, there are still guys who have work ethics that stand out, and it can lead to improvements like Maxey had from 2020 to 2021. But the jump in play was enormous. Following the Sixers’ ousting from the 2nd round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs this past season by the Miami Heat, the main question about the soon to be 3rd year player was “How much more can he really improve?” Well, over the first couple preseason games, it is clear that the answer to that question was “More than you’d expect.”
In 14 minutes against the Brooklyn Nets, the Sixers’ first preseason opponent, Maxey led all scorers in the game with 20 points, and added 3 assists and a rebound. He looked explosive, confident, and more comfortable with the ball in his hands even than during last year’s exceptional season. It was a good first look, and he looked even better Wednesday against the Cavs. Maxey followed up his first game this preseason with a 21 point game (leading all scorers again) in just 15 minutes of work. So, let’s just say that he’s going to put up 20 points per 14 minutes played to give us a nice round number. Last year, Maxey played 35.3 minutes per game. If we averaged out Maxey’s preseason numbers over that amount of playing time, he would be averaging OVER 50 POINTS A GAME RIGHT NOW!! Ok, deep breath everybody. He’s not going to average 50 points a game this season. He probably won’t even reach last year’s 3 point shooting percentage of 42.7%, just because that mark is incredibly difficult to reach. What is clear, though, through 2 preseason games, is this: Tyrese Maxey has continued to improve. I’m not sure where his ceiling is, but I don’t think he’s hit it yet.
