Waiting it out wasn’t easy, but Maxey knows he made Sixers’ big summer possible originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CAMDEN, N.J. — Basketball doesn’t often look like a grind for Tyrese Maxey.
He whizzes past defenders, swishes 28-foot jumpers and rarely looks uncomfortable.
Last summer wasn’t so easy for the the Sixers‘ star guard. Instead of signing Maxey to a contract extension, the Sixers decided to hold off in the name of salary-cap flexibility. Maxey played the 2023-24 season — a year in which he became an All-Star, won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, and scored 46 incredible points in a season-saving playoff performance — under his $4.3 million fourth-year option.
Maxey sat between Sixers managing partner Josh Harris and president of basketball operations Daryl Morey at the Sixers training complex Tuesday after signing a five-year, approximately $204 million new deal.
“I want to really thank Tyrese for his patience,” Morey said. “This offseason wouldn’t have been possible without him. He was very clearly on his way to being what he has become — an All-Star, a great future star in this league.
“And by being patient, he allowed us to put this offseason together and really put us in this position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year. So I want to make sure we thank Tyrese for that.”
Morey’s offseason pickups have included Paul George, Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon and Reggie Jackson.
“I think it worked out well, honestly,” Maxey said. “When I heard about it last summer, it’s hard. It’s a very hard thing to do, especially when you work extremely hard and tirelessly … to try to get the second contract. … You’ve got to be professional. You’ve got to understand what’s going on. You don’t have many opportunities as a franchise to do something like that, so I understood.
“I had a lot of conversations with Joel (Embiid) about it last year. I appreciate him for that too, because he was big in helping me with that. It was great. It was more calming the people down in front of me … (family). That was the hardest thing to do, making them understand exactly what it meant, cap space and all the little things. But I’m just happy, man. I’m happy that we were able to do what we did in the offseason.”
At 23 years old, Maxey has already experienced quite a bit of strangeness in the NBA.
As he noted Tuesday, Maxey missed the start of his first professional training camp after testing positive for COVID-19. His breakout 39-point game as a rookie came on a day the Sixers only had seven healthy players available. Ben Simmons’ training camp holdout led to Maxey becoming a starter at the beginning of his second season. Three games into his fourth year, the Sixers traded James Harden to the Clippers.
He’s still much younger than players like George and Kyle Lowry, but it makes sense that the Sixers keep encouraging Maxey to lead and think he’s fully capable of doing so. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse sat in the first row of Tuesday’s press conference, across the aisle from Maxey’s parents.
“I think the biggest thing that I’ve been talking to (assistant coach Rico Hines) about and Coach Nurse about is being able to drag guys along with me as far as work ethic-wise,” Maxey said. “And I think I’m in a position now where I can kind of help guys. I’ll just use Ricky (Council IV) as an example. I’ve texted him multiple times this summer like, ‘Hey, come to Dallas’ or ‘Come to L.A. and let’s get some work in.’
“I think that is something that can go a long way, especially when I’ve been here for … it’s about to be five years, which sounds crazy. But I think that’s going to help. That goes a long way for younger guys. They really appreciate that, and I really appreciated that. So I think that’s one of the biggest things that I’m going to try to do. Coach Nurse and Rico were on me about using my voice more last year and trying to step into that leadership role.
“Joel’s been on me about it: ‘You’ve got to use your voice. You’re working hard every single day. You lead by example, but you’re also good at connecting with guys and encouraging guys.’ I’ve kind of done it all my life, but when I first got here I was just trying to be a sponge and learn as much as possible. I’m still doing that right now, but I think that’s a way I can lead by example.”
In terms of skill development, Maxey mentioned continued work on his mid-range game and “just getting stronger.”
A coach’s son, Maxey would love for his current coach to be happy with him on both ends of the floor.
“We have a lot of guys on our team right now that are switchable,” he said. “I don’t want to be a guy that’s showing (in pick-and-rolls); I want to switch as well. I think that’ll make Coach Nurse’s job a little easier as well.”
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