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The Philadelphia 76ers have a lot to live up to when the season opens up on October 18th. The Phillies are continuing to dance their way through Red October, the Flyers are 2-0, and the Philadelphia Eagles remain the long-undefeated team in the NFL, at least as of the time of publication. After turning in an offseason that earned rave reviews from around the association, with the decision to trade for De'Anthony Melton and sign P.J. Tucker drawing partially favorable marks, the Sixers find themselves with a 14-man roster loaded up with proven talents, two promising youngsters on two-way deals in Michael Foster Jr. and Julian Champagnie, and a ton of excitement about the prospects of ripping off another strong showing in the Eastern Conference.
Do you want toughness? Philly added a ton of interesting enforcers who can bully foes up and down Broad Street, from Tucker, to Montrezl Harrell, and Danuel House. How about 3-and-D wingers capable of playing two ways around the team's top-3 ISO scorers? That was accomplished, too, as every non-center the Sixers signed is at least an average outside shooter and an effort guy on defense. Heck, the Sixers even loaded up on potential backup centers to make Joel Embiid's life easier in the regular season, with Harrell and Foster capable of providing minutes alongside returning reserve and noted fan favorite Paul Reed. Really, the only thing Daryl Morey didn't do was make a consolidation trade that turned in a few bottom-of-the-roster performers for one more role player, resulting in Charles Bassey, Isaiah Joe, and Charlie Brown Jr. all being released from their contract, but with one roster spot available moving forward, the team has options to bring in a player like Ben McLemore, who has experience playing alongside James Harden, House, and Tucker from their time together in Houston.
But who, you may ask, is the Sixers' X-factor heading into the 2022-23 season? Will the team only go as far as Embiid is able to take them? Or will the success instead fall on the shoulders of Harden and how well he's able to recapture his former glory after having a summer to get right physically? Frankly, neither; while the Sixers obviously need their max contract superstars to play like max contract superstars, their play is more or less expected. Tyrese Maxey's game and how much higher he can push his ceiling after an insane sophomore campaign, however, is the team's true X Factor.
Tyrese Maxey has the potential to put the Sixers over the top.
As a rookie, Maxey was a fun young sparkplug who looked like a Jordan Clarkson-style sixth man coming off of the bench. He didn't really provide much value as a defender – a problem that may forever persist – didn't get 3s at an even average NBA clip, and provided less-than-ideal value as a distributor, as his two assists per game showcased.
Fast forward one year into the future, and suddenly, Maxey was a completely different player; tasked with playing point guard in place of not-so-Philly-fanatic Ben Simmons, Maxey more than doubled his assists per game from 2.0 to 4.3, more than doubled his points from 8.0 to 17.5, and, most surprisingly of all, finished out the season with a 3 point shooting percentage fo 42.7 on 4.1 attempts per game, which is good for a 12.6 percent swing and the third-best mark of any player in the NBA. Maxey spent long stretches of Sixers games as the team's most dominant offensive weapon, including late in playoff contests when Embiid was also on the court, and even if he would get targeted on the defensive end of the court by savvy opposing coaches, he largely served as a net positive player when he was on the court, especially once Harden came to town and allowed him to kick back off ball where he truly belongs.
If Maxey can build off of that effort, became an even more dynamic offensive weapon, and just elevate his efforts to average on defense, the Sixers will be able to keep their three-best players on the court at the same time for all of the key moments throughout the season, especially with players like Tucker and Melton filling out the rotation. They won't have to hide Maxey or, worse, stagger his minutes to ensure both of the team's starting guards have a plus-defender playing alongside them and will instead be able to play their game their way, which is the key to playing good basketball in the modern-day, switch-happy NBA.
Can Maxey elevate his defensive game? Yes; though he's on the smaller side, he is very athletic and could theoretically become a better mirror defender if he works on it. If that happens, then a whole new ceiling opens up for the Sixers.
