The Philadelphia 76ers have crossed off another important item on their offseason agenda by agreeing to a maximum contract with Tyrese Maxey. The All-Star guard's new deal will be worth $204 million over five years, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. It's a straight five-year contract with no option on the last season.
The Sixers won’t officially sign Maxey until they use up their cap space, with Paul George getting most of that space after agreeing to a four-year, $212 million contract. Philly has Maxey's Bird rights and can go over the cap to sign him, so they will sign George and utilize the immense amount of cap space they have and then sign Maxey. The fact that the two sides already have an agreement in place is still great news as the Sixers try once again to put a championship team around Joel Embiid.
Maxey enjoyed a breakout campaign in the 2023-24 season, winning the Most Improved Player award by averaging 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and a steal per game. He notched a career-high 52 points in a single game and scored 50 two other times. He also recorded a career-high 11 assists in a single game and showed out in the first round of the playoffs against the New York Knicks, averaging 29.8 points per game.
Maxey joined Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and LaMelo Ball as the only players from the 2020 NBA Draft to make an All-Star team on their rookie deal. Like those other three, he earned a max contract and established himself as a true star.
In his first season as the lead guard, Maxey improved greatly as a playmaker and shot creator, partnering up with Embiid in a devastating two-man game while also proving he could do pretty well on his own. He showed strides on defense, ball handling and finishing at the rim despite a heavy workload.
Tyrese Maxey agrees to new contract with 76ers after All-Star season
The 76ers have made it clear since last offseason that Maxey is a key part of their future plans. They held off on signing him to a rookie extension last summer so they could maximize their cap space for this summer but always intended to keep him around for the future. Maxey's trust in the organization has allowed Daryl Morey and the front office to maintain lots of flexibility while adding assets via the James Harden trade.
Maxey's role with the Sixers has grown over each of his seasons after being selected with the 21st overall pick. He went from a bench player to a starter to a third option/fringe star to an All-NBA-caliber second option as the roster around him underwent some drastic changes. Becoming so good and working so hard on a cheap, rookie deal has given Philly a major edge. The front office could promise George the chance to compete at a high level thanks to him and Embiid while also retaining the cap space to pay those players. The rest of the roster is already being filled out as well, with deals on tap for Kelly Oubre Jr., Andre Drummond and Eric Gordon.
As he enters his age-24 season, Maxey is officially one of the 76ers' franchise stars. For as great as he is now, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Maxey continue to grow his game, even with George around.
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