Subscribe
Follow Us
The Philadelphia 76ers are 0-2 to start the 2024-25 season. They haven’t seen Joel Embiid or Paul George play yet and Tyrese Maxey has not been a silver lining. The star guard is in a tough spot but has not done himself many favors.
Through his first two games of the season, Maxey has made just 16 of his 54 field-goal attempts, including four of his 21 attempts from deep. He hasn’t made up for his inefficiency as a playmaker or defender. Although the Sixers' lack of strong options on offense means that defenses can load up on him, he hasn’t found a way to punish that aggression.
Maxey suggested his shooting touch is wonky right now but insisted that he won’t lose confidence.
“I just gotta refocus and make some shots,” Maxey told reporters. “Now, I'm getting some good looks — honestly, some shots that I would take every single day. But in layups, I don't know. My touch seems a little off right now. It's okay. I'm gonna work on it. And one thing about me I think people know is I'm a pretty confident guy and I never lose confidence. So as long as [Nick] Nurse keeps believing me and my teammates keep believing me, I'm gonna keep being aggressive and keep trying to get them open shots and myself open shots as well.”
Maxey suffered a right thumb contusion in the preseason finale. It hasn’t forced him to miss any portion of the regular season but perhaps he's still a bit bothered by it. Whether that’s the case or not, Maxey has to improve his shot selection, especially inside the arc, and balance scoring and playmaking.
Tyrese Maxey struggles to begin 2024-25 season
The expectations for Maxey are very big now — and they should be. He's an established All-Star on a max contract. The roster around him sans Embiid and George isn’t ideal but stars have to figure out how to make the most of what they have. He showed that he could do that in the 76ers' loss to the Toronto Raptors but when he got knocked off his game, he struggled to get back to dominating.
What does Nurse see as the reason for Maxey's early struggles?
“I don't know. I think tonight he certainly had some really good opportunities,” the 76ers head coach told reporters. “It [was] kind of a little bit like the other night. He hit some early and then you think, ‘Okay, he's gonna really roll,’ and you're feeling really good about his shot selection and stuff. I know there's a couple of late shot-clock turnarounds or whatever. But most of 'em were pretty decent opportunities. We want him to take them.”
Although Maxey has two All-Star teammates waiting in the wings, they will each miss plenty of time throughout the season. With the help of his coaching staff, he must figure out a way to reliably set the offense up as the lead option.
