The health of Joel Embiid and Paul George lingers over everything, but Tyrese Maxey remains the one constant ray of hope for the Sixers.
The final sordid chapter of this Sixers’ saga played out Sunday, and while everyone associated with the club is eager to turn the page, Tyrese Maxey couldn’t help but reread a previous chapter.
Specifically the fifth-year point guard reminded everyone that back on Media Day, six months ago, he had said the retooled roster was nothing more than “names on the paper.” His point was that it was nice to add Paul George and some others to a team already featuring himself and Joel Embiid, but everybody would have to prove they could play together.
“I don’t think we ever figured it out,” Maxey, idled by a pinky injury since early March, said before his teammates wrapped up a 24-58 season with a 122-102 loss to Chicago.
They never figured it out because the supposed Big 3 shared the court for exactly 15 games, in which the team went 7-8 and achieved a lovely net rating of minus-0.9. Embiid appeared in just 19 games all season because of a knee injury. George appeared in 41 because of knee, pinky and groin afflictions. Maxey, the ironman of the group, played 52 before he had to shut it down.
So they remain mere names on a paper. It’s just that we can bold-face Maxey’s, while the others fade.
George turns 35 on May 2. Embiid just turned 31. While George spoke hopefully about next season Sunday, and while Maxey and others expressed optimism about Embiid (who was not present after getting his left knee scoped a few days ago), it takes a real leap of faith to believe they will ever be the players they once were. Or that they can perform at an elite level over a full season.
Maxey is another story. He’s just 24, and renowned for his work ethic and enthusiasm. If there is one thing the Sixers can count on going forward, it is him. The hope he represents will have to sustain them as they pick up the pieces after their worst season since that Process-powered 10-72 finish in 2015-16. (Also as they watch old friends James Harden, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris parade to the playoffs.)
The Sixers, with the league’s fifth-worst record, can cross their fingers when the draft lottery arrives on May 12. They can bank on the continued development of their other young guys, and hope to retain free agents Guerschon Yabusele and Quentin Grimes
But whatever else happens, Maxey is the key to the whole operation. That’s never been clearer than it is now.
“His future is as bright as anybody’s in this league,” veteran point guard Kyle Lowry said, “and he’s just going to continue to get better.”
Lowry, 39, has mentored Maxey and the other youngsters, and said he hopes to play one more season; it would be his 20th. He enjoys his continuing association with coach Nick Nurse, which dates back to when they were both in Toronto, and relishes the fact that he is playing in his hometown.
But the clincher is that he gets to work with Maxey every day.
“It’s just been a blessing to be a part of this,” Lowry said, “because he’s such a phenomenal kid and a phenomenal talent.”
The season was something of a mixed bag for Maxey. He averaged a career-high 26.3 points a game, but his field-goal percentage (.437) was his worst, and his 3-point accuracy (.337) was his second-worst.
On Sunday he talked about getting out of the gate slowly — how with Embiid and George sidelined to start the season, he felt “like it was a lot of weight on (his) shoulders.”
Because it was. And defenses as a result loaded up against him like never before. Still, there was growth. Lowry thought Maxey was more vocal than he had been previously, and certainly that was in evidence when he reportedly challenged Embiid at a team meeting in November. On the court, he worked the pick-and-roll better, Lowry believes, and became more adept at reading double-teams.
“I learned a lot about myself,” Maxey said. “I learned a lot how to dig yourself out of holes and who to lean on, who you can’t lean on.”
He believes he turned a corner after his slow start; as he put it, “I found my joy back.”
That lasted until he injured his right pinky in a game against Brooklyn on Feb. 22. He tried to play through it, but saw his season end a few games later.
When he met with reporters Sunday, the pinky was still wrapped. He has been told it will be another month before the swelling and pain go away. Then it’s back to work. Back to turning the page.
“I know he’s really going to take the summer and get his body to a different place, and get his mind to a different place, and his game to a better place,” Lowry said.
Certainly Maxey’s outlook remains rosy.
“I took a lot of criticism this year, and I appreciated it — from everybody,” he said.
He sounded not the least bit jaded when he said that. Nor is he allowing himself to grow downcast about the club’s uncertain future.
“The only way we can go from here is up,” he said.
Well, that’s true in his case, anyway. There are plenty of chapters to be written in his tale. Whether the other names remain on the paper is an entirely different story.