76ers Rumors: Tyrese Maxey Seen as Max Contract Player by PHI After Harden Trade

James Harden is no longer a member of the Philadelphia 76ers after they traded him to the Los Angeles Clippers, and the front office now has the task of building a championship contender without him.

That front office reportedly believes Tyrese Maxey will be a major part of those efforts.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Philadelphia is "preparing for Tyrese Maxey to be a max player in the summer of 2024 in free agency. … I certainly think they believe he has a chance to be an All-Star. Some think he could maybe be an All-NBA player one day."

Maxey is currently scheduled to become a restricted free agent after the 2023-24 season, but it seems like Philadelphia is going to do what it can to make sure he is a building block for the organization.

And that is not surprising at all.

After all, the University of Kentucky product is just 22 years old and has demonstrated sizable improvement in the early portion of his career. He was a modest contributor as a rookie in 2020-21, took a leap while averaging 17.5 points per game in his second year and then became a major factor in 2022-23 with averages of 20.3 points, 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game

That seemed to set the stage for a massive 2023-24 effort, especially since he figured to handle the ball more with Harden on his way out.

While it is only a three-game sample size, Maxey looks well on his way to yet another significant jump in production. He averaged 30.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in those three contests, two of which Philadelphia won.

The Maxey and Joel Embiid pairing may not be enough to defeat the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but Philadelphia could do far worse for a one-two punch.

If it adds some pieces around the MVP big man and guard who it reportedly views as a max player in the coming years, it could finally advance past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since the 2000-01 campaign.