Getty Images Tyrese Maxey
The Philadelphia 76ers’ 2022 NBA playoff run got off to a great start on Saturday night with a 131-111 win over the Toronto Raptors. It was a dominant performance by the Sixers, that featured five players scoring in double figures and four players with 19 points or more.
While it was a complete team performance, Sixers second-year guard Tyrese Maxey stole the show scoring 38 points on 14-21 shooting and 5-8 from three-point range. Maxey’s 38 points were the second-highest individual point total of the weekend behind only Kyrie Irving’s 39 points on Sunday.
For Maxey, it’s another breakout performance in a burgeoning young career. The question at this point might be how much of Maxey’s career will be in Philadelphia?
A Busy Summer
The Sixers were aggressive at the NBA trade deadline this season when they acquired James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets. Since that move, the Sixers have still shown that they need more help.
While Tobias Harris played well on Saturday with 26 points, he’s been slow to mesh with Harden. Because of that many have speculated that he’ll be a likely trade piece for the Sixers this summer.
The speculation is that the Sixers would include Harris in a trade to try to land another star like a Bradley Beal. The questions have been who would the Sixers include in a trade like that beyond Harris. An Eastern Conference Executive recently told Heavy’s Sean Deveney what he thinks they’ll do this summer.
“They’re going to be active this summer, you get Harden in there, you need to make sure the roster fits around him. You’ll see everyone outside of Embiid and Harden on the table. Tobias Harris is first on the list, and probably you’ll see them take offers on (Tyrese) Maxey.”
With the way, Maxey has played this season the idea of trading him probably won’t make many Sixers fans happy. Another player that might draw some interest in any trade talks is Matisse Thybulle, but that executive doesn’t see him being moved.
“They like Thybulle, he is an ideal role player for them, you need defenders around Harden, so the whole vaccine thing, they’re not going to hold that against him. If you’re making a list of guys they’d deal, he is low on that list.”
Playoff Run
Ultimately what will determine what the Sixers do this summer is how deep of a run they can make this postseason. If the team can make a run to the conference finals or even the finals then it’s possible the team won’t do anything major this summer.
The Sixers have a decent path to the conference finals. If they get past the Raptors, they’ll likely play the Miami Heat, who they are 2-2 against this season. That means the Sixers won’t have to play the Bucks, Celtics, or Nets until the conference finals.
If the Sixers can take advantage of their postseason draw and make a deep run then it will give the front office a lot to think about this summer. Ultimately what the Sixers do this postseason will tell the story for the team this summer.