CAMDEN, N.J. — It was only a matter of time before Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a contract extension. The plan, which launched last summer, was to wait until after Philly utilized its future cap space before locking down the up-and-comer to a new contract. His peers got paid while the Sixers' young guard stayed patient.
When the time was right, the 76ers rewarded Maxey's patience — and then some.
Maxey got a new max contract worth $204 million over five years. The 76ers used the cap space to sign Paul George and a litany of other solid role players, bolstering their chances of competing for a championship. They built a museum exhibit to honor Maxey and his accomplishments, assembling hallways that contained Maxey's jerseys, trophies and messages from, among others, Dawn Staley, Joel Embiid, John Calipari and Maxey's family.
Ahead of last season, Maxey restated his appreciation for the 76ers for drafting him and opted not to let his impending contract affect his preparation for the campaign. Focusing on the upcoming season – and the several that follow — will be even easier now.
“When I heard about it last summer, [it was] hard,” he said. “It's a very hard thing to do, especially when you work extremely hard, you work tirelessly and trying to get the same contract. But when they brought it to me, I understood. You gotta be professional, you gotta understand what's going on. You don't have that many opportunities as a franchise to do something like that.”
Maxey said that conversations with Embiid helped him grasp the upside of keeping that cap space open and remaining patient. The results were as good as they possibly could have been for both Maxey and the 76ers. Team president of basketball operations Daryl Morey profusely thanked Maxey for his patience.
“This offseason wouldn't have been possible without him. He was very clearly on his way to being what he has become – an All-Star, one of the great future stars of this league,” Morey said. “By being patient, he allowed us to put this offseason together to really put us in this position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year.”
The 76ers' museum of Maxey's accomplishments and secure future with the team underscored his immeasurable value. Embiid dubbed Maxey as “The Franchise” years ago. It didn’t take very long for his vision to become accepted by the rest of the NBA landscape.
Morey said that constructing the exhibit for Maxey “felt like the right thing to do.” The goal, he said, was showing the rising star how much he means to the city.
While Maxey is still regarded as the young star of the team, he's also an established veteran, one of the longest-tenured players and no longer one of the absolute youngest. He's looking to flip the script from the veterans who used to extend a hand to him to come work on his game in the offseason.
“I think I'm in a position now where I can kind of help guys,” Maxey said. “I'll just use Ricky [Council IV] for example. I've texted him multiple times this summer, like, ‘Hey, come to Dallas or come to LA and let's get some work in.’ I think that's something that can go a long way.”
Embiid, head coach Nick Nurse and assistant coach Rico Hines have been encouraging Maxey to be a vocal leader, to use his naturally friendly personality as a way to make players feel welcome on the 76ers, just as he has become over these past four years.
“I found a home here,” Maxey said, “and this is a great place for me.”
Tyrese Maxey explains benefits of playing with Paul George, “proven” role players
The 76ers paying Maxey after making their moves was only a matter of time. But the specifics of those moves were unclear at the outset of the offseason. Rumblings of George joining Philly got louder and louder until it became the reality in the opening hours of free agency.
“Paul is a guy that can do a lot of different things for us,” Maxey said, “especially because of already having a guy like Joel Embiid on our team. And with Paul being able to spot up and knock down threes, that's one of the biggest things that you have to be able to do playing on the floor with Joel. That and then being able to create for himself, create off of Joel. And then he's 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9, a guy who can guard multiple positions. I think he brings an overall different aspect of the game for us.”
Not only did the Sixers get George but they retained some of their key free agents (Kelly Oubre Jr., Kyle Lowry, KJ Martin) while bringing in Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond (again), Eric Gordon and Reggie Jackson. Maxey understands how those “proven role players” are “extremely important” for Philly.
Maxey pointed to Lowry as someone who was “extremely important for our team last year just because of his experience. He was extremely smart. He was important to me as well. He would always get on me about different things and I appreciated him for that because Kyle puts in the time and puts in the work. He studies and he knows the game. You appreciate guys like that.”
The newcomers will each occupy different spots in the rotation and the depth chart. Maxey sees why the 76ers went after them.
“I think they all have a lot of things in common, which is they want to go out there and prove themselves and build a team and actually go out here and try to do something together and be successful while doing it,” Maxey said.
George will make things easier for Maxey in all aspects of the game. His shooting will give Maxey more room to operate on offense and someone else to pass to. George can do some creation and playmaking of his own, which will help Maxey get more reps as a spot-up shooter, where he’s most dangerous.
Maxey taking on less of a burden can be supercharged by another leap in his game. The loudest voice motivating him to make that jump comes from his own family.
Tyrese Maxey discusses impact of his dad on wanting to improve
The many messages Maxey wore on his wrist were passed down from his “crazy” dad, he said. Tyrone Maxey continually pushing Maxey to get better and better gave him the fuel that propelled him to NBA stardom.
“I appreciate him for that because, without him, a lot of this would be impossible,” Tyrese Maxey said of his dad. “He was on me from day one about just working out, getting better every single day. Any man that sits an 8-year-old down after a six-hour drive home from Louisiana and makes him watch two, three games of film, that man [is crazy].”
“It seems to have worked pretty well,” Morey quipped. “Props to dad.”
The 76ers project to be significantly better next season not just because of their additions. Maxey gives them a potent source of internal improvement. He made significant improvements in the 2023-24 season, which earned him the Most Improved Player award. There’s a mountain of pride to observe in how far Maxey has grown. But as his dad will surely still point out to him, he has room to be even better.
Going into next season, Maxey wants to continue the development of his mid-range game. He said previously how his father stressed the importance to a young Maxey that threes and layups can only make him so effective. Making those tough shots is now a legitimate responsibility Maxey has and must work at.
With his father among the many family members in attendance, Maxey recalled how big of a Michael Jordan fan he was and how he wanted Tyrese to harness an in-between game. That and solidifying his versatility on defense are his two main offseason focuses.
“At the end of the day, basketball's about scoring a basket and being able to make, sometimes, tough shots. I think that's just a shot you need to add to your game — my game, for sure,” Maxey said. “And just getting stronger. I feel like that was one of the biggest things. We have a lot of guys on our team right now that's gonna be switchable. I don't want to be a guy that's showing I don’t switch as well. That will make Coach Nurse's job a little easier as well.”
Tyrese Maxey relentlessly pushes the boundaries of how good he can be as a player. The 76ers have already gotten way more out of him than they could have ever hoped when they drafted him 21st overall. But Maxey, now officially sticking around for five more seasons, still intends to spoil the franchise even more.
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