Maxi: The road to rise from substitute to ace!
2:49pm, 15 August 2025Basketball
For the 76ers, the 2024-25 season is a tormenting season. Except for Embiid's injury throughout the season, who was completely out of the qualified level and Paul George's sluggish performance, only Maxi is the team's maximum-paid players who can perform above the qualified level. Especially after McCain's season reimbursement in the mid-season, Maxi has become the only highlight of the 76ers.
But from the perspective of the season, Maxi is not the first choice that the team expected as the top player as soon as he enters the NBA. Looking back at the 2020 NBA Draft, he was selected with only 21 picks, and was originally just expected to be a substitute surprise. So, after reviewing the trajectory over the years, how did Maxi prove himself step by step from a substitute and finally realize his talent and become the hope of Philadelphia?
Before entering the league, Maxi began to play the role of a lofty green leaf player in Kentucky in his freshman season, and his performance was remarkable, averaging 14 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.
Reviewing the scout report from college, 191's height and 198's wingspan, and relatively mediocre dynamic talent did not have many draft advantages, and due to the lack of passing awareness and control ability, he was more suitable for the second scoring position than the point guard. But even so, Maxi, who has obvious shortcomings, has been firmly in the first round in the simulation draft, and his advantage lies in his extremely high football quotient.
Although he lacks creativity in passing and holding the ball, he can still make quick judgments on the court; at the same time, Maxi's overall propulsion speed is extremely fast, with superb finishing skills under the basket and throwing near the basket. Although Maxi's three-point shooting percentage in his freshman season was only 29.2%, judging from his 83.3% free throw shooting percentage and stable mid-range shooting efficiency, many scouts have cast votes of confidence in his future prospects.
In addition, Maxi's biggest selling point is that he has the big heart traits that most rookie players do not have, which also lays the foundation for the future promotion from substitute to starting early.
As for Maxi who was able to be selected by the 76ers on the 2020 NBA draft night, one of the people that must be mentioned is Mike Muscala.
On August 16, 2020, the Thunder faced the Heat in the quarantine park. Although the victory or defeat of the game had no effect on the playoff rankings of both sides, both teams chose to play as a substitute player, but judging from the results, if the Thunder wins in this game, they will give the 21st pick to the 76ers in the first round of that year.
In the end, the process of this game was also dramatic enough. The Thunder fell behind by more than 20 points in the first half of the fourth quarter, but was eventually defeated by Muscala with two key three-pointers. The No. 21 pick was immediately sent to Philadelphia, and Maxi was finally selected in the 2020 draft.
After this little episode, it is no exaggeration to say that without Muscala's final victory, Maxi would have joined Philadelphia. On July 15, 2024, Muscala announced her retirement. On that day, the official social media account of 76ers also posted a separate message to wish the player. In the 2020-21 season, Maxi's rookie year averaged 8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2 assists per game in 15.3 minutes of playing time. Although it looks ordinary from the data, there are actually many highlights. Since Philadelphia had many defenders rotated that year, aside from the starter Simmons and Curry Jr., there were also Milton, Seble, Kolkmaz and others on the bench. Therefore, Maxi was positioned as a guard candidate for the third lineup in the early stage and basically had no chance to play.
But gold will shine after all. In the game against the Nuggets on January 9, 2021, due to the new crown epidemic agreement, Philadelphia only has seven players left to fight. The original starting main force is Danny Green on the roster. At this time, Maxi, who finally got the starting chance, also made fans around the world recognize this young defender.
Maxi scored 39 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the game, showing strong enough confidence and offensive decisions in the game where he was lagging behind, and played a completely different offensive situation from starting point guard Simmons. Although Maxi, who was in a rookie year, was unable to output stably, he returned to the end of the bench rotation after the main players returned.
But overall, Maxi's regular season performance basically continued his expectations in the draft, with only 30.4% three-point shooting percentage continuing his shortcomings in college, but he has comprehensive scoring ability and excellent offensive treatment within the three-point line, and at the same time he has the style of a general who is not at all stage frightened. Especially in the playoff field where he truly shows his superstars, Maxi's value can be displayed enough. In the second half of the 2020-21 season, although the 76ers ranked among the top two in the Eastern Conference, the hidden worries of defenders were constantly exposed, and there were rumors of Simmons' trading before the trading deadline. Although there was no final decision, the team's active introduction of George Hill was enough to represent the team's ideas, and also laid a cross-cutting for the later career lines of Simmons and Maxi.
In the fourth game against the Wizards in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, although the 76ers were in a 3-0 lead, Embiid retreated in the first quarter, which also put a question mark on this seemingly unsurprising playoff.
The sixth man in the regular season, Milton, gradually lost his playing time due to slow heat, and Simmons' deteriorating offense and 0-for-9 free throws in the first three games have gradually become hidden worries. At this time, the 76ers who lacked an offensive engine could only rely on Harris to support the situation, and even trailed their opponent by 14 points at the end of the third quarter.
At this time, Maxie forced herself out and used continuous scoring to help the team keep tight in the final quarter. She performed completely differently than a rookie who played in the playoffs in the first year. Although he was still unable to win the game in the end, Maxi scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, bringing up the team's counterattack morale; on the other hand, Simmons did not make a single move in the fourth quarter, and scored a weak point by relying solely on free throws. One of the two consecutive free throws also made it difficult for the last 76ers to grasp the advantage, and the contrast between the two became stronger and stronger..
Although he won the promotion ticket with the strong combat power of the 76ers in the fifth game of the first round, facing the Hawks in the second round became an eternal nightmare for Philadelphia fans. In the first three games, they achieved a 2-1 lead, but in the subsequent fourth and fifth games, the 76ers were reversed successively with more than 20 points in the lead.
In addition to never being able to limit Trae Young, other Hawks role players such as Hult, Bogdanovic, and even veterans such as Garlinari and Lu Wei can play their value in the face of the wind. On the other hand, no one on the 76ers could respond at a critical moment. After a while, the 76ers, who played against the wind, had to face the situation of falling behind in the series away game, and at this time Maxi once again stood up to show his big scene style.
Under Simmons' first half foul trouble, Maxi took the game early, and in the end he played in this key battle for nearly 30 minutes, scoring 16 points and 7 rebounds and the team's highest plus-12 plus-negative value. Although the 76ers lost the series in the final tiebreak, and Simmons was ridiculed by fans for the classic "abandoned attack and passed" choice under the basket, Maxi made a big splash in this round of series. Suddenly, Simmons was unwilling to play for the 76ers because of the previous year's playoff defeat. Maxi got the opportunity to play as the starting point guard in the second year of his career. Judging from the data, Maxi in the 2021-22 season has undoubtedly achieved a leap forward compared to his rookie year data.
Average 17.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, which doubled compared to the previous year's 8 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2 assists. The shooting percentage increased to the top level of 49%+43%+87% compared to the rookie year's 46%+30%+87%. Even after Harden came, Maxi's performance was still able to maintain his own attributes:
In the first 51 games of Harden's 76ers, his average of 16.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, a shooting percentage of 47%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 39%. In the 24 games after Harden's 76ers, his average of 18.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, a shooting percentage of 52%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 48%.
In the first half of the 2021-22 season, Maxi showed a defender performance that fits Embiid. In the system with Embiid as the starting point of the offensive, the point guard only needs to pass the ball to the low post or free throw line at the right time, or perform a simple return pass after the pick-and-roll. Maxi does not need to perform a large number of difficult passes to connect the team.
At the same time, when Embiid attracts double-teams, he needs to cut the ball with an open cut, Maxi is also a high-quality choice. This is especially obvious after Harden's arrival. The double improvement in the quality of three-point shooting directly shows that Maxis is more suitable for a single-player ball-holding off-ball scorer than a single ball-holding off-ball scorer, and his three-point shooting percentage has always been better than his three-point performance with the ball. In addition to the regular season, Maxi in the playoffs of that year also benefited from Harden's arrival and played his masterpiece in the playoffs. On April 16, 2022, Maxie scored 38 points in her first playoff game against the Raptors, making 14 of 21 shots, leading the team to beat the Raptors with 20 points.
This incident completely exceeded the expectations of the outside world. After all, the 76ers faced the Raptors with a disadvantage of 1 win and 3 losses in the season, and the Raptors' wing resources were a difficult task for the 76ers who lacked height. However, Maxi in the first two games perfectly demonstrated the advantage of the defender over the forward. In addition to a stable fixed-point three-pointer, he broke through the entire Raptors forward group many times in the fast attack round.
From the perspective of technical characteristics, Maxi's ending trick lies in his strong shoulder width and core strength, allowing him to continue to face a strong forward line to complete the end. Looking at the entire first round series, Maxi's performance as the third offensive point is completely impeccable, with averaging 21+5+5 basic data, plus a 51%+41%+95% shooting percentage, which is the biggest contributor to the 76ers who can break into the first round that year.
Although the 76ers failed again due to Embiid's injury in the second round, the rise of Maxi, the newcomer, has gradually begun to sprout in the hearts of all Philadelphia fans...
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