Philadelphia 76ers: You know what? Tyrese Maxey is untouchable

For the longest time, I firmly held the belief that the Philadelphia 76ers had one untouchable player and one untouchable player alone: Joel Embiid.

Sure, there are players that the team would definitely have a tough time moving on from for one reason or another, players like Seth Curry for example, but in the NBA, almost every player should be available if the price is right, as there are only so many guys who can singlehandedly change the fortunes of a franchise.

Were the Los Angeles Clippers actively trying to move on from Tobias Harris in 2019? No, I imagine they would have been just fine with keeping the well-traveled combo forward around for the remainder of the season if there wasn’t a good enough offer on the table, but when Elton Brand came calling and was willing to surrender multiple first-round picks and a nice young player in Landry Shamet, the prospects of a potential trade were just too good to pass up.

Is Bradley Beal untouchable in Washington? Potentially so, I mean, he’s the face of the Wizards, and that holds significant weight not just on the court but to the marketing department and to the folks buying season tickets. But after a decade in The District, including two of the last three seasons without an All-Star running mate, it’s hard to say that Beal has singlehandedly changed the fortunes of Washington other than securing the team five fruitless playoff berths over 10 seasons.

Tyrese Maxey, to his credit, has thoroughly changed the fortunes of the Philadelphia 76ers in this season, elevating the team from an expected disaster to legitimate players in the Eastern Conference, and after elevating his game considerably from Year 1 to 2, it’s hard to justify cashing out on his potential while his arrow is pointed straight up.

Tyrese Maxey’s development has changed the math for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tyrese Maxey has put in the work.

He entered the association as a tweener who couldn’t really shoot, wasn’t a big assist guy, and was knocked for his defense, and over the span of less than 200 games, has become the Philadelphia 76ers’ second-leading 3 point shooter behind Seth Curry, their second-best assist getter behind Joel Embiid, and a functional NBA backcourt defender who doesn’t need to be subbed out in clutch situations unless his team really needs a single possession stop.

Not too shabby for a player who didn’t turn 21 until a month into the season.

Now granted, is it unheard of for a player to take a big leap from their rookie to sophomore season in the NBA? No, it happens every year and oftentimes to multiple players, but Maxey’s elevation isn’t your typical second-season bump. No, more often than not, when a second player like, say, Desmond Bane, takes a huge leap from one season to the next, it’s because of an increase in volume or a few new tricks folded into their formula a la Coldstone Creamery. Maxey, by contrast, went from a sparkplug scorer to a legitimate point guard unnecessary of any pre-fix qualifiers and took his 3 point shooting percentage up a full 10 points, which is the sort of jump you almost never see.

I mean goodness, what’s next for the 6-foot-2 Dallas native who just became of drinking age not 100 days ago? Will he become a prolific rebounding guard like Russell Westbrook? A proficient foul drawer like James Harden? Or a pesky defensive guard who gives opposing players fits like another former Doc Rivers guard, Patrick Beverley?

If there was ever a player worthy of having their potential bet on, it would be Tyrese Maxey.

Is Tyrese Maxey a better player than Bradley Beal right here and now? No, probably not. Could Maxey be a better player in, say, two years, when he’s in the final year of his rookie contract, and Beal is a 30-year-old in the second year of a supermax contract? That, my friends, is very much a possibility, which would have sounded crazy even one year ago. Unless the Philadelphia 76ers can secure themselves an incredible return that guarantees them a championship in 2022, which basically doesn’t exist in reality, the decision to consider Maxey untouchable is the right one, as he has quite literally changed the fate of their franchise like few others could.

*sigh* now if only Doc Rivers and company would actually treat Maxey like an untouchable star instead of relegating him to a fourth option all too often in the halfcourt offense.