Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Maxey has a very real case for MIP

Without Tyrese Maxey, the Philadelphia 76ers don’t make it to the fourth seed in the East.

Without Tyrese Maxey, the Philadelphia 76ers likely don’t secure the services of James Harden, as they would have surely accepted a lesser deal to get Joel Embiid some more immediate support.

And without Tyrese Maxey, your friendly neighborhood Philadelphia 76ers have no chance in heck against the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.

Why? Because Maxey has transcended his status as a second-year player, as a tweener, and as a player unworthy of being selected in the lottery to become one of the Sixers’ best players, period, not just one of their better young players or better role players for that matter either. If that, my friends, isn’t worthy of consideration for the Most Improved Player award, then I don’t know what is.

Tyrese Maxey has exceeded the Philadelphia 76ers’ wildest dreams.

When you look at Tyrese Maxey’s stats, it’s hard not to be impressed with his leap from Year 1 to Year 2.

As a rookie, Maxey averaged 8.0 points, 2.0 assists, and .7 turnovers per game on a shooting split of 46.2-30.1-87.1. While those numbers aren’t going to draw in eyes from across the NBA for obvious reasons, when you consider he only played an average of 15.3 minutes per game, they are incredibly encouraging for a first-year player.

What is impressive, however, is the jump Maxey made as a second-year player, elevating his stats up to 17.5 points, 4.3 assists, and only 1.2(!) turnovers per game on a shooting split of 48.5-42.7-86.6 over an average of 35.3 minutes per game. Maxey started every game of the season he appeared in but one, many of which came at a brand new position, and, in a turn of events few expected to see, actually saw his number improved paired up with James Harden despite having the ball in his hands far less often than before February 25th.

When the Philadelphia 76ers need to score points in a hurry, they often turn to Maxey, who is easily the team’s fastest scorer in both the half and full court. That’s pretty impressive when you consider his current backcourt-mate is a three-time scoring champion. Want to know what else is impressive? How effective a weapon Maxey has become off the ball, as teams still haven’t quite accepted that he’s an elite outside shooter, and he can make them pay with a shot that goes in more often than four times out of ten.

Speaking of Maxey’s 3-point shot, did you know that it will now forever rank third overall association-wide behind only Luke Kennard and fellow Most Improved Player candidate Desmond Bane? Because it does. Maxey’s points per game ranked 40th overall, his field goal percentage ranked 35th, and even his free throw percentage, which was actually down from the season prior, still ranked 22nd association wide, even if he only went to the line 246 total times.

Do those numbers make Maxey a more deserving candidate for the Most Improved Player award over players like Bane, his teammate Ja Morant, Anfernee Simons, or first-time All-Star Darius Garland? No, not necessarily, but he unquestionably should be in the conversation, as Maxey’s emergence as a legitimate Big 3 player is a big reason why the Sixers are where they are and have the ceiling they do moving forward.

Will Tyrese Maxey ultimately pull out the Most Improved Player award? No, probably not; much like his teammate, Joel Embiid, he will likely find himself overshadowed by the national narratives regardless of his statistical improvements. But I will tell you this; the Philadelphia 76ers unquestionably view Maxey as the player that improved the most, and much like “The Process,” “The Franchise” will continue to be a part of the team’s future for years to come.