Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Maxey’s halfcourt offense is a work in progress

It took Tyrese Maxey 14 games to earn his fifth start in 2020-21, and that came under very extenuating circumstances.

If you recall, the Philadelphia 76ers were in the middle of a pretty hardcore COVID outbreak, with much of the team either sick or on the unable to play list due to close contact with Seth Curry.

Remember the infamous “Seven Sixers” game? Yeah, that was Maxey’s first start as a pro.

Once the team returned to full strength and Maxey’s starting streak was snapped at six, he would only go on to start two more games over the rest of the regular season and playoffs combined, once on May 8th versus the Detroit Pistons and again in the 72nd and final game of the year versus the Orlando Magic.

Fast forward to the 2021-22 season, and Maxey has already started five games for the 76ers in place of Ben Simmons with his personal record-setting seventh start coming as soon as Monday when Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers come to town.

Maxey has effectively doubled his points, rebounds, assists, and 3 point shot attempts per game over the still young season while looking incredibly confident as a fullcourt scorer.

But when the game slows down and the Philadelphia 76ers get into their halfcourt set? That, my friends, is an area of his game where Tyrese Maxey’s game could use some improvement.

The Philadelphia 76ers need to give Tyrese Maxey more halfcourt responsibilities.

For the first time since 2014, the Philadelphia 76ers play a game on Halloween.

That game featured Nerlens Noel at center, Hollis Thomas on the wings, and Tony Wroten earning his second-straight start at center in place of an injured Michael Carter-Williams, and, unsurprisingly, ended in a pretty lopsided loss to Giannis Antetokounmpo and the baby Bucks.

This year’s game will certainly look different, as it will actually be held at the Wells Fargo Center and mark the first time the Sixers take on the Atlanta Hawks since their brutal summer playoff series but still, after nearly a decade away, Halloween basketball is back in the City of Brotherly Love.

Do you think the players will come to the arena in costume? If so, may I suggest Tyrese Maxey go as a ghost?

Why? Because Maxey has been ghosting possession after possession in the halfcourt for the Philadelphia 76ers this season.

Despite being the team’s primary weapon in transition and routinely being tasked with taking the ball up the court, when the Sixers’ starters settle into their offense in the halfcourt, it’s often Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, and even Joel Embiid facilitating the offense, with Maxey fading into the corner like Ben Simmons in the playoffs.

Granted, once the reserves cycle in, Maxey begins to take on more and more decision-making duties, but at the beginning and end of games, when the full starting lineup is on the court, Maxey routinely becomes a secondary offensive option at best and an all-out afterthought at worst.

But why? I get that Doc Rivers is a noted believer in meritocracy and may feel more comfortable with players like Harris and Curry running the show in the halfcourt over a second-year player who doesn’t turn 21 until November, but when tasked with playing off the ball as a spot-up shooter, Maxey loses everything that makes him special.

You see, Maxey is at his best with the ball in his hands. He likes to size up the defense, call for a block, and ultimately drive to the hoop for either a layup or one of his patented mid-range floaters. While he’s getting more comfortable letting 3s fly from beyond the arc, as he’s attempting 3.4 shots per game in the season, Maxey is draining them at a 29.4 percent clip, which is well below the league average of roughly 35 percent.

But what is there for the Sixers to do? If Rivers doesn’t feel comfortable with Maxey running the show from the top of the key or would rather use Embiid as an offensive fulcrum, how can the Sixers keep all five of their starters engaged and the offense from getting stagnant?

Easy: Ball movement.

In Maxey, Curry, and Harris, the Sixers have three capable cutters who can move well with the ball both in and out of their hands. If the Sixers want to artificially replace Simmons’ playmaking abilities in the halfcourt, there are way worse ways to do so than having a steady dose of ball screens, down screens, flare screens, and some pick-and-pop action with Embiid.

In the modern day NBA where ball movement is king, the Sixers can’t continue to rank dead last league-wide in pace, even if Embiid’s style of play requires a slower style than a team with, say, James Wiseman at center.

Is Tyrese Maxey a finished product? Hardly. His turnovers are starting to tick up as opposing guards increasingly challenge his handle, and he needs to find more consistency on the defensive end of the court to truly become a two-way player, but honestly, the strides he’s made in less than a year with the team are beyond impressive. If the Philadelphia 76ers can just get comfortable in the halfcourt and trust him to make good decisions, his path to becoming a real NBA point guard becomes all the more clear.