Tyrese Maxey gave the Philadelphia 76ers hope at the point guard position in the team’s season-opening win as Ben Simmons’ situation remains unresolved.
With Ben Simmons suspended for the season opener, and the likelihood that he will probably get traded sooner or later, the Philadelphia 76ers started a new era at the point guard position. Tyrese Maxey got the start for the Sixers against the undermanned New Orleans Pelicans to open the regular season and he passed his first test with flying colors.
In his first start, as the team begins to prepare for life without Simmons, Maxey finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists on 8-14 shooting from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range. He was also a team-high plus-23 on the night.
He wasn’t the playmaker that Simmons was – when he’s physically and mentally engaged – but played well under the circumstances for such a young player. As the Simmons’ dark cloud continues to hover around this team, Maxey will be asked to continue to fill the void left by the disgruntled all-star until the situation is resolved.
Even though it’s an unfair ask, Maxey has remained professional throughout and has shown tremendous poise for such a young player. Playing off of Joel Embiid never hurts and while Sixers head coach Doc Rivers has his flaws, he’s also been around and seen everything that comes within the NBA scope – this is nothing surprising.
Excelling against the injured Pelicans is one thing. While Maxey may have impressed in his debut, he’ll be asked to do it again – and perhaps then some – in the team’s second game of the season against the Brooklyn Nets.
As the Sixers’ front office continues to deal with what’s taking place between Simmons and the team off the court, it seems as if Rivers is more than willing to hand over the reins at the point guard position to Maxey on the court.
That is evidenced by much more than just the impressive stat line. By the end of the night, Maxey had logged a team-high 34 minutes. While that could just be Rivers trying to get a closer look at Maxey, it also points to the team having the utmost respect for his talent and ability.
If Simmons indeed has played his last game for the Sixers, it seems as if the team is in good hands with Maxey at the lead guard position. He’s a different type of point guard from Simmons but he adds an element on the offensive end that was missing with the former.
And. so far, the early returns on Maxey are promising for the Sixers.