Since the Philadelphia 76ers acquired James Harden at the trade deadline, they have been one of the biggest topics in the basketball community. While time might not be on their side, they have firmly planted themselves in the title picture this season.
With roughly six weeks to go in the regular season, the Sixers will be forced to integrate the former MVP on the fly. One of the more common questions regarding the roster now is what to do with Tyrese Maxey moving forward.
Due to unfortunate circumstances, the second-year guard was thrust into a full-time starting role at the start of the season. Given the fact he was never a true point guard per se, Maxey did more than hold his own to bring a new element to the lineup. Having a pair of former NBA point guards on the coaching staff played a pivotal role in Maxey's rapid development thus far.
Now that Harden is in the mix, a lot of responsibility will be taken off Maxey's plate. Some feel the 21-year-old Sixers guard should go back to coming off the bench, but that should not be the case. He has performed too well this season to be demoted following a trade. That being said, Doc Rivers must go outside his comfort when it comes to handling his new starting backcourt.
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It is something Rivers doesn't typically do, but Maxey and Harden need to be staggered throughout the course of a game. They can start and close games together, but their minutes should not fully intertwine.
With this new addition, Rivers once again has a capable ball handler for both units. Staggering the two would allow Maxey to run the second unit and take pressure off guys like Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz. It would also give both lineups a guard who can create offense and score on all three levels.
We've seen throughout the year that Maxey has struggled to assert himself offensively when the lineup is fully healthy. Instead of getting shots for himself, he constantly deferred to Joel Embiid or Tobias Harris. This will likely continue once he is sharing the floor with another All-Star.
The starting lineup has more than enough offensive capabilities with Embiid and Harden. Having Maxey run with the bench unit will allow him to play more freely and give the Sixers a scorer when the stars are on the bench.
Moving forward, there is no reason why one of Embiid, Harden, or Maxey isn't on the floor at all times. Rivers is likely to experiment with different rotations in the coming weeks, and this is one move he should heavily consider. This suggested staggering gives the Sixers their best five-man lineup to start and finish games while making them look much deeper throughout the full 48 minutes.