Today is Tuesday, which means it is time for me to answer a batch of Sixers questions, including one that broke my brain even attempting to ponder. Let's get into this week's mailbag, with questions courtesy of my followers on Bluesky:
From @obid2473.bsky.social: Just for fun, imagine a full reset, what would Tyrese Maxey net in a trade?
Before I answer this question, let me be clear: I am not advocating for the Sixers to trade Maxey, I am not proposing the Sixers should even make an effort to find out what they could get for Maxey, and most importantly, I am not suggesting or reporting that I expect them to ever consider such a move. Now, to answer the question: he would net a whole lot in a trade.
It is difficult to even come up with a basic framework of a possible return for Maxey, because players of his age and caliber are almost never traded. There is little precedent for a 24-year-old who made an All-Star team on his rookie contract and owns all of the necessary mental and emotional chops to be the face of a franchise to get dealt with four years remaining on his contract.
Tyrese Maxey put on an absolute SHOW in Game 5 with playoff career-highs in PTS and 3PM as the @sixers force a Game 6!
π 46 PTS
π 9 AST
π 7 3PM
π Game-tying 3 to force OT
Game 6 is Thursday on TNT πΏ pic.twitter.com/jMu91iuconβ NBA (@NBA) May 1, 2024
All of these reasons lead the case for the Sixers never even considering something like this, but they also represent the case for plenty of teams being willing to offer a whole lot to pry Maxey away. This far out from the offseason beginning, it may be too difficult to imagine any sort of specific suitors or trade proposals. So instead of making any full proposals, I will outline a few different archetypes of deals that would be on the table in theory:
β’ The question was asked in the name of the Sixers completely resetting their team, so I will begin by operating under that context. In this case, the Sixers would likely be smart to aim to accumulate as many draft picks and young players as possible. It is easier to find teams willing to part with massive collections of future first-round picks, so the Sixers would call the teams around the NBA with ownership of the most draft capital and see how much value they could gain down the line. If those teams also have young players who are attainable with any sort of potential, go get them, too.
β’ All of these constructs are difficult to imagine the Sixers considering, but this one is especially hard to fathom: swapping Maxey for a player of a similar archetype in terms of age, production and contractual status, where each team gets a player who is a better fit for their roster. If the Sixers felt Maxey and Jared McCain were an incompatible duo long-term (they do not, and if they did it would not automatically be Maxey who was shown the door), and another team had another young star but wanted to trade that player for someone who could handle the ball and score the way Maxey has proven to be able to do, maybe a straight-up deal to balance out rosters could be pondered.
β’ Lastly, what if the Sixers could trade Maxey and get better? Anything feels possible now that the Dallas Mavericks have traded Luka DonΔiΔ, and shortly after that trade I imagined what a Sixers offer for the 25-year-old superstar would have looked like. Maxey would have been the headliner, with McCain and a whole lot of other stuff also heading to Dallas. It is difficult to imagine any player so prolific becoming available, but nobody thought DonΔiΔ would ever be traded. If a player ever became available who was without question a superstar, one of the 10 best players in the world or so, Maxey could theoretically lead a viable package.
Let me just say one more time before we move to the next questions: I do not think any of these ideas are even in the realm of possibility, nor am I submitting that they should be considered.
MORE: Maxey goes down with back injury as Sixers lose vs. Portland
From @yoteamass.bsky.social: How's the Lonnie Walker IV experience going?
After four difficult games to begin his Sixers tenure, Walker played very well on Monday night. He finally saw some shots go down, scoring 13 points in 28 minutes while shooting 4-for-8 from the field and 3-for-6 from the line. Walker is known as a scorer, so it was perhaps more encouraging that he also collected two steals and two blocks.
So, how is the experience going? Walker spoke to the media after the game. Here are some noteworthy quotes:
β’ Walker on if getting acclimated to the NBA's three-point line again after a stint overseas has been the most difficult aspect of his transition:
"I'm a scorer, I love to shoot. So you know, that doesn't really make much of a difference. I think it was just about flying over in the time zones, getting my legs up under me. Only been here for about nine, 10 days, played about four or five games already, so really just finding and getting my feet back under me most importantly. I've been in the gym day and night. I mean, trying to just make sure my work ethic is the answer to it all. But I know that, you know, I'm going to continue to get better and better as the days progress and the more opportunity I get, you know, I'm trying to use it to the best of my capability."
β’ Walker on if he has discussed how to strengthen the transition from international basketball to the NBA with teammate Guerschon Yabusele:
"Absolutely. We still talk about Euroleague and things of that nature and stuff like that, but to watch him kind of transition over here and get things going as far as his work ethic and what he does and what he brings to the table, I think he found his niche for the team and what he provides, and he's staying consistent with that."
β’ Walker on how available players must adjust with Joel Embiid and others sidelined:
"I think whoever gets on the floor is taking it as an opportunity to win. I think we all want to win, most importantly, so understanding that when you lose some big pieces, it's time to step up and play to the best of your capability, whether it's rebounding, defense, little things, doing the dirty work. So I think each player individually understands their role and what they bring to the table and how they have to take it to another height when we're missing someone like Joel or Paul [George] or even Kelly Oubre Jr.β¦ So weβve got to play [as a] team, weβve got to play the right way. Every possession counts, step by step, trusting each other."
From @jambalaya13.bsky.social: Why should anyone bother following this team? It's pretty nice checking out on them. Too many years of nonsense.
One thing I never do is tell people how to root for their favorite sports teams, and Sixers fans are uniquely justified if they elect to sit these last six weeks out. It has not just been a trying season, but an incredibly exhausting decade. If you feel it is not worth your time to watch the Sixers play any of their remaining 22 games, I encourage you to avoid doing it.
The only notion I would push back against is that these games are "meaningless," because there are certainly things that can either be learned or achieved between now and April 13 beyond maximizing draft lottery odds.
For example: some expressed resentment after the Sixers snapped their nine-game losing streak with a win over the Golden State Warriors because it dropped the Sixers from No. 6 to No. 7 in the lottery standings. And while a loss is more productive than a win for the Sixers given their record, one has to consider the nature in which they earned that win: Quentin Grimes, acquired at the trade deadline as a 24-year-old role player who was thought to have a bit on untapped potential as an on-ball scorer, went for a career-high 44 points. This is, by any objective measure, a massively encouraging development for the future of the Sixers, even if it comes at the cost of a win which might have been more helpful as a loss:
QUENTIN GRIMES SCORES A CAREER-HIGH 44 PTS IN THE SIXERS' WIN π€
π₯ 20 in 1H
π₯ 18 in 3Q
π₯ 18-24 FGM
π₯ 6-9 3PM
What a night for @qdotgrimes! π pic.twitter.com/FaIn2hJE96β NBA (@NBA) March 2, 2025
Otherwise, there are implications in the remaining 22 games as far as next year's roster. Walker, Justin Edwards, Jared Butler all have team options on their contracts for next year; Edwards is the only safe bet to be back as things stand now. Ricky Council IV's salary in 2025-26 is non-guaranteed, while Adem Bona only has a partial guarantee. Bona is certainly safe, but Council could do a lot to stabilize his standing within the organization and carry some momentum into his third NBA season if he finds a way to close the season on a positive note.
Ultimately, I am the one who is watching these games as my job, not you (I, of course, am blessed to be able to do so). I say that for this reason: if watching this short-handed team play a bunch of games they are expected to lose will not be enjoyable for you, you should not feel compelled to do it. But for those already focused on next year's team, the remaining games in 2024-25 are relevant.
MORE: Sixers fans, 'back in their comfort zone,' return to Tankathon.com
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