Philadelphia 76ers: What the Ben Simmons situation means for Tyrese Maxey

How the Ben Simmons situation will impact Tyrese Maxey. 

Tyrese Maxey, the player rumored to have been one of the reasons the Philadelphia 76ers did not pull the trigger last season and trade for James Harden. Houston was rumored to have a deal of Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey, and two first-round picks for Harden, Philadelphia wouldn’t budge, neither did Houston.

And just like that Brooklyn comes in and gets the prize possession in Harden.

Maxey, entering the second year of his career, had flashes of being a very serviceable NBA guard during his rookie season. Paying behind an all-star guard in Ben Simmons, and on a contender, his opportunities were limited.

Maxey averaged 15 minutes per game last season and averaged eight points, two assists, and shot around 46 percent from the field. Those numbers don’t exactly jump off your screen, but maybe these next few numbers will.

Tyrese Maxey’s value to the Philadelphia 76ers

In Maxey’s eight starts last season, he averaged 18.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game last season. With 50/33/85 shooting splits in those starts. It’s not that complicated, when Maxey gets more opportunities, his numbers go up.

With Simmons holding out, what does that do for Maxey? Well, it depends who the Sixers get back for Simmons in a trade. But you can say that right now, Maxey will be the starting point guard coming into this season. Similar to when a star running back goes down, and suddenly the backup is now the feature back.

A great example is last night’s Thursday night football game. Carolina Panthers feature back Christian McCaffery goes down with a hamstring injury, now all of a sudden back up running back Chuba Hubbard is the name you hear whenever anyone mentions “sleepers” or “players to watch out for.”

Before that injury he was a rookie, back up running back that had shown some promise, but he wasn’t a player on everyone’s radar like he is now. Now, this situation is slightly different because obviously, Simmons isn’t injured, but there is no inclination that he will be playing, which provides Maxey with the opportunity of a lifetime.

I think Maxey can average close to 20 points per game with starters minutes. He just needs to play within himself, which he’s shown he can do. Are you ever going to run an ISO for Maxey? Probably not, but can he play pick-and-roll with Joel Embiid, run the floor in transition, and knock down the occasional three? Of course, he can, and he only gets better the more opportunities he gets.