NBA Draft<\/a>.<\/p>\nThere are other pieces, young and old, but none are as consequential to the team\u2019s conflicting timelines as the aforementioned players.<\/p>\n
When news of the Bane trade broke, the vast majority of NBA folks felt like the Magic overpaid. That\u2019s what seems to be fueling this discourse around Maxey \u2014 if Memphis got THAT for Bane, what could the Sixers get for Maxey? It can be a fun exercise, but you\u2019re basically playing GM in NBA 2K if you think about it for too long.<\/p>\n
Maxey is the team\u2019s most valuable asset and he\u2019s sort of sitting in between the team\u2019s two timelines. <\/p>\n
This is exactly why the Sixers should not trade him.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s good enough and has proven to be an impressive playoff performer to help Embiid and George if their bodies allow them and the team to compete next season. He\u2019s also young enough to help usher in the next era of Sixers basketball next to McCain and the young prospect(s) the team nets next week.<\/p>\n
He has value to other teams because he\u2019s valuable. Acting like the Sixers would miss some great opportunity to trade him right now is actually sort of insane. He\u2019s 24. He\u2019s under contract for the next four seasons. He\u2019s also a year removed from making an All-Star team and coming directly off a down year, meaning his value isn\u2019t even at its highest. He\u2019ll still be 28 when Embiid\u2019s contract (if Embiid remains here for his whole contract) comes off the books. <\/p>\n
Where\u2019s the fire?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also not an ideal time to tank. Next year\u2019s pick is top-four protected now that this year\u2019s pick did not convey to the Thunder \u2014 meaning it\u2019s extremely likely that OKC will have the Sixers\u2019 first-rounder in 2026.<\/p>\n
Best case scenario if you keep Maxey: Embiid and George resemble their All-Star selves and, with Maxey, could possibly make noise in a seemingly wide-open East.<\/p>\n
Worst case scenario if you keep Maxey: Embiid and George repeat last season, but at least you\u2019ll have Maxey leading a young and dynamic team to instill some level of hope for the future.<\/p>\n
None of this is accounting for that whole leadership\/franchise cornerstone thing. In every way possible, Maxey is the exact type of player you want filling that role. Nobody works harder. Nobody loves basketball more. Nobody hates losing more. Nobody is a better teammate. Those intangibles on a 24-year-old All-Star who\u2019s averaged 26 points a game over the last two seasons … and you want to trade this player?<\/p>\n
No player is untouchable, especially in the situation the Sixers find themselves. If the Bucks called tomorrow offering Giannis Antetokounmpo for Maxey, the Sixers would do it. But trading Maxey because he has the most trade value feels counterintuitive. You have a player that most teams in the NBA covet. So … maybe just keep that player for yourselves?<\/p>\n
In the history of the Sixers franchise, only four players have averaged over 26 points a game at age 24 or younger: Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson, Embiid and Maxey. That\u2019s two Hall of Famers and a guy that\u2019s basically guaranteed to get there. Will Maxey reach that level? Probably not. But that doesn\u2019t mean he can\u2019t be awfully special and help this team win in the future.<\/p>\n
Get off social media. Go touch grass. Don\u2019t trade Tyrese Maxey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s inevitable when a big trade happens in the NBA that folks immediately start wondering how it could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,2610,100,7,22738,95,28,2807,7403,99,4196,7276,6,1385,678,207,3817,22737,42,96,64,409,256],"class_list":{"0":"post-108358","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-76ers-analysis","10":"tag-ballers","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-brakes","13":"tag-for","14":"tag-front-page","15":"tag-ideas","16":"tag-let","17":"tag-liberty","18":"tag-maxey","19":"tag-maybe","20":"tag-nba","21":"tag-on","22":"tag-philadelphia","23":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","24":"tag-philadelphia76ers","25":"tag-pump","26":"tag-s","27":"tag-sixers","28":"tag-the","29":"tag-trade","30":"tag-tyrese"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114706938955216410","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}