Philadelphia 76ers: How will Tyrese Maxey fare off the ball?

Though he’s yet to take the court for the Philadelphia 76ers, James Harden is already having a serious impact on his new team’s play.

Take, for example, the Sixers’ final game before the All-Star game, where they traveled west to the bright lights and even colder weather of Milwaukee to face off against the reigning NBA Champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. After failing to score a point from the field over the course of the first quarter, Tyrese Maxey was taken aside by Harden during a timeout and coached up with some on-the-fly advice on how to attack the Bucks in the painted area.

The results? A quick two followed by 11 more points to close out the quarter with 16 points, which ranked second on the team behind only Joel Embiid.

With Maxey at the controls, the offense has outscored opponents by 90 total points, and his on-off rating of +2.5 ranks fourth on the team among active players behind only Joel Embiid, Georges Niang, and Danny Green. But how, dare I say, will that change once James Harden makes his debut later this month? Will the Philadelphia 76ers’ young guard fall off the cliff with a smaller role in the starting lineup or will he be able to adapt to a less involved but no less vital role?

If you have to ask that question, you haven’t been paying attention to the pride of the University of Kentucky for very long.

Tyrese Maxey is called a combo guard for a reason, Philadelphia 76ers fans.

At Kentucky, Tyrese Maxey wasn’t the Wildcats’ point guard.

No, that honor belonged to Ashton Hagans, who also joined Maxey and Immanuel Quickley in the 2020 NBA Draft but failed to hear his name called in the first or second round. In Lexington, Maxey was far more shooting guard than point guard and would even defer to Quickley at times when the Wildcats needed a bucket in clutch situations.

This position flexibility is an asset to a coach like John Calipari, as it allowed him to run three guards in his starting lineup and stagger lineups as he saw fit, but it left Maxey in a bit of a gray area coming into the association, as he didn’t have elite assist numbers, finished second on his team in points scored, and has a 3 point shooting percentage well below the NBA’s Mendoza Line of 35. Once considered a near-lock to go in the lottery, Maxey fell all the way to 21 because of what he couldn’t do – aka his lack of an elite skill – as opposed to all of the things he could do very well.

Fast forward to his rookie season in a red, white, and blue uniform, and Maxey again spent more time off the ball than on it, logging 392.7 minutes at the one versus 542.3 at the two/three. Maxey averaged eight points and two assists in 15.3 minutes of action, and despite a few fantastic showings, few expected to see the then-20-year-old fill a role bigger than energizer bunny off the bench in only his second professional season.

Well, apparently no one told that one to Maxey, as he stepped up in a massive way down Ben Simmons and became a legit point guard in this his first season playing the position in either college or the pros. He’s played 99 percent of his minutes at the one so far this season and has become the model of efficiency from both beyond the arc – 39.5 shooting on 3.5 attempts from 3 per game – and in the handles game, where he’s averaging just 1.2 turnovers versus a team-high 84.7 touches per game.

If Maxey can keep up those efficiency numbers once James Harden takes over the point guard spot, why wouldn’t he excel just as much off the ball as he has on it?

Assuming the Sixers’ offense becomes the Harden-Embiid show, with the duo setting each other up for a good chunk of the team’s points, Maxey instantly becomes the team’s most lethal do-it-all off-ball offensive weapon, a player capable of cutting to the rim, draining open looks, and taking up a secondary playmaking role for his four other teammates on the court. With less defensive attention, as Harden will certainly draw an opposing team’s best defender, Maxey should be able to take advantage of a lower spot on the scouting report in a variety of different ways, from breezing past on slower guards on his way to the rim, to freeing himself up with off-ball movement to provide his teammates with an open outlet pass.

And don’t forget, when Harden isn’t on the court, for, let’s say, 12 minutes per game, it will be Maxey, not Shake Milton or Furkan Korkmaz, who will be running the second unit offense. He’ll be able to get his team into their sets, making plays in the transition game, and maybe even unleash some new magic from his bag of tricks thanks to the continued tutelage of Harden.

If Harden embraces a mentorship role, the sky really is the limit for the pride of Garland, Texas.

Will there be some growing pains once James Harden finally takes the court, reportedly against the Minnesota Timberwolves on February 25th? Oh, you bet. While Harden’s ISO-heavy game will surely make things a bit easier than some might expect, it will certainly take some time for every player on the team to get on the same page and move forward as a cohesive team. But of the biggest issues ahead for the Philadelphia 76ers, how Tyrese Maxey adapts to his new role should be pretty low on the list, as he not only has more experience playing off the ball than on it but will continue to get his shots to lead the offense when Harden is on the bench.