The Sixers are telling teams that Tyrese Maxey is untouchable, per @WindhorstESPN
“Prime Michael Jordan is available? Don’t call. 25-year-old LeBron James is available? Lose our number. Giannis Antetokounmpo says, ‘I want to be a Sixer.’ If Tyrese Maxey is the ask, just keep walking.”
These are some bold statements about Maxey’s future in Philly and how the team views his value and long-term upside. Maxey has progressively improved in each of his three NBA seasons, but his past two seasons in particular have been stellar. The Los Angeles Clippers are the team that Harden has his eyes on in terms of his preferred destinations. However, the Clippers don’t want to move any of their young players nor do they want to move Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in a Harden deal.
That is where the Portland Trail Blazers come in amid their own star’s trade request: Damian Lillard. If the Sixers can get Lillard, then that’s the perfect star partner for Joel Embiid. However, because Portland is on the verge of a rebuild, they would likely want young star, Tyrese Maxey.
It makes a lot of sense why they would want Maxey, but the Sixers are telling teams that he is untouchable in any sense of a deal. Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on “The Hoop Collective”
Maxey is fresh off a 2022-23 campaign in which he averaged 20.3 points while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from three-point range. He’s averaged 4.3 and 3.5 assists over the past two seasons, respectively, and it’s apparent Daryl Morey and Co. either are shutting down any trade offers involving him, or they’re setting it up to where a team would need to make a massive offer for the 22-year-old guard.
