The Philadelphia 76ers may have been put in a tough spot by the James Harden trade saga, but they were confident in their chances of remaining competitive despite the Beard's forced departure, thanks in large part to their belief in fourth-year guard Tyrese Maxey. Maxey was already showing glimpses of All-Star-level consistency prior to this season, but now, he has taken his play to a whole new level — continuing his impressive display with a 33-point, 10-assist night in the Sixers' 121-111 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

Maxey, however, didn't exactly come into the league with the greatest of pedigrees; he may have been from Kentucky, a pipeline that produces quality guards on the regular, but he fell during the 2020 NBA Draft, paving the way for the Sixers to select him at 21, and then he played just 15.3 minutes a night in his rookie campaign.

Nevertheless, to Joel Embiid, it was clear from the onset that Tyrese Maxey was going to blossom as one of the Sixers' most important players, and this belief from the reigning MVP proved crucial in bringing out the best in the 23-year old guard.

“I think Joel is literally one of the first people in this organization that really believed in me when I was a rookie. He said it early that he felt like I could be special,” Maxey said in his postgame interview, via the official Sixers Twitter (X) account.

“Having that trust and that confidence from the MVP of the league, the best player in the world, I can just go out there and be myself.”

It truly is important to have someone in your corner during tough times, and for Tyrese Maxey, having Joel Embiid vouch for him is now paying off in such a big way for the Sixers.

Having Maxey be up to par in assuming a greater offensive burden in the aftermath of James Harden's departure is a huge reason why the Sixers don't have much sense of urgency to acquire a third star. Philadelphia clearly believes that Maxey is capable of being the second option on a genuine contending team, and at only 23 years old, he has a ton of room to grow still.