Few thought Philadelphia 76ers SG/PG Tyrese Maxey would become a fantasy basketball superstar. After all, Maxey was not even an NBA lottery pick, going 21st in the 2020 draft after his freshman season at Kentucky, where he averaged a modest 14 PPG, 3.2 APG and shot 42% from the field.
Maxey was not a point guard, 3-point shooter or NBA-caliber defender during his first season in the league but, then again, few superstars arrive that late in the draft.
Fast forward to today and Maxey, in his fourth NBA season, is a completely different player than we all saw during his rookie season, when he averaged 8.0 PPG, 2.0 APG and hit a total of 31 3-point shots in his 61 games.
Now he is a legitimate superstar, for the 76ers and fantasy purposes, averaging 26.8 PPG, 7.1 APG and 3.5 3PG.
Sure, the narrative for this season is Maxey seized opportunity only created by a disgruntled teammate demanding a trade, but he worked hard to alter his game. Now he is a point guard, a legitimately accurate and volume 3-point option, and he is competent defensively.
The Maxey we see today is easily the leading candidate for the NBA's Most Improved Player award, and fantasy managers who initially made him a fifth-round pick in preseason ESPN average live drafts are quite pleased they did so.
Those drafting today -- yes, you can still draft! -- need to secure a second-round pick to get the coveted Maxey, as he is, along with teammate and defending league MVP Joel Embiid, among the top-10 scorers in ESPN points formats entering Tuesday's key home game with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
How did this happen?
Most point to the early-season trade of bitter backcourt mate James Harden to the LA Clippers creating the chance for Maxey to run point and dictate offense, but the truth is the 76ers did not know Maxey was capable of this level of play, or they wouldn't have dealt for Harden in the first place in Feb. 2022, dumping the controversial Ben Simmons on the Brooklyn Nets.
Harden is a Hall of Fame point guard, with more than 7,000 assists. He and Embiid worked well together, but the Philadelphia offense was slow and stagnant, especially in the playoffs, and it certainly did not utilize Maxey to his optimal level.
Still, Maxey averaged 20.3 PPG, 3.5 APG and 2.7 3PG last season, a breakout performance as a scorer and 3-point shooter, but there was a higher level, reachable now with top usage. Now Maxey directs a fast, explosive offense more congruent with his skillset, and the 76ers are among the highest-scoring teams in the league.
Maxey seems well on his way to his first All-Star game appearance as well. The Maxey who shot 29% from 3-point range in college and barely tried to shoot from the outside as a rookie now is thriving at better than 42% for the third consecutive season, and only 12 players attempt more 3-pointers per game.
The breakout is legitimate, and Maxey is certainly more valuable than Harden, a perennial top-10 fantasy option, not to mention Maxey is also more than a decade younger.
What makes Maxey so valuable is his ability, albeit through only 13 games, to statistically contribute in myriad ways. He's not only scoring in a traditional way and adding 4.8 RPG and the 10th-most assists per game, but he is among the top 5 in 3-pointers per game, and he is third in the league in free throw shooting at 95%. Of the nine players averaging more assists per game, Golden State Warriors PG Chris Paul is the only one averaging fewer than his 1.5 turnovers per game. Maxey has shown incredible efficiency despite a newfound, sky-high usage rate.
This sure looks like a late first-round pick for 2024-25 fantasy drafts, as the 76ers surely will offer their new point guard, still only 23 years old, a maximum, long-term contract to coexist with Embiid as franchise building blocks and fantasy stars. Perhaps few could have seen the breakout coming to this extent, but it is here.
Welcome to stardom, Tyrese Maxey.
Other breakout players
While Maxey is the most prominent breakout star of this season, he is not alone. Here are others showing considerable improvement in their numbers when compared to last season.
Scottie Barnes, PF/SF, Toronto Raptors: Similar to Maxey, Barnes has taken the step up into statistical stardom due to his team's starting point guard leaving town (Fred VanVleet to the Houston Rockets). Barnes, in his third NBA season from Florida State, earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2021-22, and all his numbers are up this season. Barnes averages 20.1 PPG, 8.9 RPG and 6 APG, and he is the only player with 19 or more steals and 19 blocked shots. Fantasy managers initially made Barnes a fifth-round pick, similar to Maxey. Now each is a top-10 fantasy option for this season and beyond.
Shaedon Sharpe, SG/SF, Portland Trail Blazers: The No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft out of Kentucky, Sharpe entered the league with more hype than Maxey did, and he averaged 9.9 PPG and little else as a rookie. This season, after the Trail Blazers traded franchise icon Damian Lillard, Sharpe stepped into the starting lineup and has nearly doubled his own rookie production. He is second in the league to Maxey in MPG, and averages 17.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2 3PG. Sharpe is 20. The best is yet to come.
Alperen Sengun, C, Houston Rockets: Sengun, in his third season from Turkey, has gone from 14.8 PPG to 20.1 PPG, but the other notable difference in his production has been the assists, from 3.9 APG to 5.7 APG. Only three centers average more assists (Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, Embiid), but Sengun -- like Maxey and Barnes! -- fell to the fifth round of preseason fantasy drafts. Who knew he was capable of this type of production? The rebounds and blocks are down a bit from last season, but this looks like a top-30 fantasy option.
Zach Collins, C/PF, San Antonio Spurs: Collins, in his sixth NBA season and hardly the most notable big man in the Spurs frontcourt, is posting his own career-bests across the statistical board, at 29.9 MPG, 15.2 PPG and 4 APG. Rookie Victor Wembanyama is awesome, of course, but fantasy managers who made Collins one of the final picks of early drafts have to feel great about the return on investment.
Jalen Johnson, SF, Atlanta Hawks: Johnson, in his third season from Duke, struggled to find minutes behind John Collins in his first seasons. With Collins moving on the Utah Jazz, Johnson has more than doubled his playing time to 30.6 MPG, nearly tripled his scoring to 15 PPG, and doubled his rebounds to 7.9 RPG, while shooting 60% from the field. Johnson is a top-50 fantasy option and, at 21, clearly still improving.
Cam Thomas, SG, Brooklyn Nets: Thomas, a late-first round pick in 2021 from LSU, is a scorer in truest sense, offering little else for fantasy managers. Still, it is tough to ignore anyone averaging 26.9 PPG, though Thomas did offer more than a glimpse of his skilled upside by scoring more than 40 traditional points in three consecutive games in February, then dropping 46 points in the season finale. He has missed more than a week with a sprained ankle, but when he returns, expect top-50 fantasy production, mainly by putting the ball in the hoop.