Blossoming Sixers Star Named NBA’s ‘Best Trade Asset’ This Offseason

Getty Sixers guards Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey.

The Philadelphia 76ers are going to need to find a way to upgrade their roster on the fly if they want to remain competitive and take advantage of the championship window offered by the duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden.

There’s a lot to like about the roster as it stands, but it still might be worthwhile for the Sixers to consider trading one of their young stars in the making. Tyrese Maxey came on strong in his second season and even became the second option for much of the season until Harden came to town.

While that’s a player the Sixers would want to hang onto for the immediate future, Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale writes that he’s actually the league’s best trade chip, and if the team wants to land even more talent around their star duo they might have to consider trading him.

So far there’s nothing that links him officially to a trade, but expect there to be teams that come calling about the blossoming point guard.

Could Maxey Be Shipped Out?

GettyTyrese Maxey.

In ranking the top 10 trade pieces of the offseason, there’s a reason Favale put him at number one.

He believes that to be the case because if the Sixers want to land another bonafide star to put alongside Embiid and Harden, it’d likely require the team to part ways with Maxey, and that adds a ton of value to him.

“Giving up a 21-year-old Most Improved Player candidate with two years left on his rookie scale might seem shortsighted,” he wrote. That’s also what it’ll take for the Sixers to enter any star discussions. Maxey doesn’t earn nearly enough to be the sole outgoing piece in any major trade, but he alone juices up any larger package as an up-and-coming cornerstone who has also shown he can exist within the context of an offense catering to others.”

Maxey has been developing rapidly, and if he makes yet another leap in his next season then this isn’t even a conversation that needs to be had as the Sixers would already have their third star.

Favale does say that Maxey shouldn’t be shipped off if a top star doesn’t come in return, so it’s clear he knows the Sixers have a potential stud on their hands.

“Tyrese Maxey shouldn’t be available unless the Philadelphia 76ers have hatched some grandiose plot to snag another top-15 player to partner with Joel Embiid and, presumably, James Harden (player option),” he wrote.

Because of that, it seems unlikely at the moment that the Sixers trade him. They even managed to hang onto in the James Harden deal, and he’s definitely somebody the Nets could’ve used.

What Will They Do?

GettySixers forward Tobias Harris.

As of right now, it’s easier to say that the team will look into potential Tobias Harris deals before anything else.

Harris commands a far larger salary than Maxey does, and he’d be able to be moved in exchange for multiple pieces. The problem with Harris is that he’s being paid like a superstar, but that’s not the type of player that he is.

He could likely be a complimentary piece on a good team, but it’s difficult to take that on as a championship-contending team due to his nearly $40 million deal.

Only time will tell what the Sixers have planned for this offseason.

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