Second-year NBA players having breakout seasons this year: Tyrese Maxey
If Ben Simmons ever returns to the Philadelphia 76ers, he may need to find a new position. Tyrese Maxey has taken the starting point guard position and ran with it.
Maxey has played an estimated 100 percent of his minutes at point guard this season, after spending a majority of his time at shooting guard as a rookie. He’s averaging 17.2 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game.
He is naturally getting many more minutes moving into the starting lineup, but his shooting hasn’t suffered for it. He’s hitting 36.1 percent of his threes, a considerable jump from 30.1 percent last year. His field goal and free throw percentages are up as well.
An area of shooting Maxey can improve upon is his midrange game. Last year, he hit 58.2 percent of his attempts between 10 and 16 feet. He’s struggling from that distance this season, though, hitting just 37.3 percent of his attempts.
One look at Maxey’s win shares shows the impact he’s making compared to his rookie season. For the whole 2020-21 campaign, he accumulated 1.9 win shares. This year, he’s already hit 2.2 win shares, and we’re barely a quarter of the way through the year.
Maxey has struggled a bit more on the offensive end since Joel Embiid returned from his absence, but that’s bound to happen as Maxey learns to adjust. He’ll be just fine, and the Sixers will be too with their emerging talent.