It’s not outlandish to say that Tyrese Maxey saved this generation of Philadelphia 76ers basketball. Few players taken as far down in the draft as 21st overall achieve All-Star status in their early-20’s. Maxey doing so while still on his rookie contract helped paper over glaring holes in the roster construction, most notably Tobias Harris received near-max money to do things like score zero points in 29 minutes of a playoff elimination game.
Without Maxey in the fold, it’s easy to envision a scenario in which Joel Embiid gets frustrated with the organization’s past missteps and lack of progress and asks out of Philadelphia.