Tyrese Maxey took a leap of faith in 2023, and the Sixers are flying high in 2024

CAMDEN, N.J. - As the Sixers held press conferences for Tyrese Maxey's rookie-scale maximum extension and Paul George's introduction on Tuesday, the speakers fittingly followed the same chronological order as the circumstances necessary for Philadelphia to sign George in early July.

It all started with a noble decision Maxey and his camp agreed to last offseason. Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey made sure to point that out almost as soon as it was his turn to speak into the microphone on Tuesday.

"I also wanna really thank Tyrese for his patience. This offseason wouldn't have been possible without him," Morey said.

"He was very clearly on his way to being what he has become: an All-Star, a great future star in this league. And by being patient," Morey explained, "he allowed us to put this offseason together and really put us in this position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year. So, I wanna make sure we thank Tyrese for that."

It was just one of multiple times throughout the day that Morey appreciatively eluded to the gift that was Maxey's patience.

While a number of Maxey's draft classmates inked lucrative extensions last summer, he put off his raise until this summer.

He out-performed the projections on his draft slot for years, presenting the Sixers with a unique opportunity as the league transitioned into a new collective bargaining agreement. Tobias Harris' contract was coming off the books just as a second apron was being introduced to the salary sheet. Maxey, a first-time All-Star in 2024, had a cap hold of roughly $13 million. The combination of Harris' deal expiring and Maxey having an unusually small cap hold for a player of his caliber gave the Sixers a shot at signing an external free agent to a maximum contract, and then circling back to give no. 0 his due because of Bird rights.

While the rest of the league was worried about keeping itself away from the straight jacket that is the second apron, Maxey's patience had the Sixers in position to create a big three with cap space left over to add to the roster.

Maxey understood the plan when the Sixers pitched it to him. That didn't make it easy to accept.

"I think it worked out well, honestly. When I heard about it last summer, it's hard. It's a very hard thing to do, especially when you work extremely hard, you work tirelessly and whatever and trying to get the second contract. But, when they brought it to me, I understood. You got to be professional. You got to understand what's going on. You don't have many opportunities as a franchise to do something like that, so I understood," Maxey said.

"I had a lot of conversations with Joel [Embiid] about it last year. I appreciate him for that, too, because he was big in helping me with that. It was great. It was more calming the people down in front of me. That was the hardest thing to do," Maxey said with a laugh, looking at his family sitting in the front row at the press conference. "But, making them understand exactly what it meant, cap space and all the little things. But, I'm just happy, man. I'm happy that we were able to do what we did this offseason and give us a chance to do something."

To wait was a level of trust that could've been jeopardized by James Harden's antics. While the Sixers were asking Maxey to hold off on his payday until the summer of 2024, the former Sixer was publicly accusing Morey of being a liar amid a trade request. Maxey playing ball with the franchise's plan required a leap of faith.

He viewed it as returning the faith they put in him on the night of the 2020 draft.

“It was different for me. I really trusted them because they took a chance on me, honestly. Every situation’s different. I was very thankful for that opportunity they gave me to come here and play for a championship-caliber team early in my career, taking me at 21 when I feel like I slipped in the draft and feel like I could’ve gone higher. But, I feel like I found a home here. This is a great place for me. So I understood," Maxey said.

"I understood what the end goal was, and sometimes you have to realize that. My parents helped me with that; I helped them understand it and they kind of helped me understand it. Rich [Paul] was a big part of that, as well. He helped me understand it. And once I understood it, I just put my head down and worked and tried to win last year - do what we could do to win games last year. I would say, ‘We’ll worry about that when it comes, when it gets there’. And we’re here now, so I think it worked out pretty well.”

Extension in hand or not, Maxey is always focused on getting better. One percent every day, to be exact. Maxey's rise to stardom has forced him into a position of leadership. Off the court, he's dedicated this summer to expanding what that looks like.

“I think the biggest thing that I’ve been talking to Rico [Hines] about and Coach Nurse about is being able to drag guys along with me as far as work ethic-wise. And I think I’m in a position now where I can kind of help guys. I’ll just use Ricky [Council IV] as an example. I’ve texted him multiple times this summer like, ‘Hey, come to Dallas’ or ‘Come to L.A. and let’s get some work in’. I think that is something that can go a long way, especially when I’ve been here for... it’s about to be five years, which sounds crazy. But I think that’s going to help," Maxey said.

"That helped me - the couple of times Joel asked me to work out with him. Or when James was here, the couple times he asked me to work out with him. That goes a long way for younger guys. They really appreciate that, and I really appreciated that. So, I think that’s one of the biggest things that I’m going to try to do. Coach Nurse and Rico were on me about using my voice more last year and trying to step into that leadership role. Joel’s been on me about it: ‘You’ve got to use your voice. You’re working hard every single day. You lead by example, but you’re also good at connecting with guys and encouraging guys’. I’ve kind of done it all my life, but when I first got here I was just trying to be a sponge and learn as much as possible. I’m still doing that right now, but I think that’s a way I can lead by example.”

As for the on-court work, Maxey is grooming his capacity for tough shots and sculpting his body.

“My dad, in high school and middle school, he used to always say, ‘Dude, you’ve got to get an in-between game. Work on your pull-up’. He was a big Michael Jordan fan, so Michael Jordan kind of spoiled him with all those one-dribble pull-ups, fadeaways, and all that stuff. I think layups are really good and threes are really good. So, those are, analytically, stuff that we need in our game. It’s just sometimes, when you get in the playoffs, you have to make a shot. At the end of the day, basketball is about scoring a basket and being able to sometimes make tough shots. And I think those are just shots you need to add to your game - to my game, for sure," Maxey explained.

"And just getting stronger. I feel like that was one of the biggest things. We have a lot of guys on our team right now that are switchable. I don’t want to be a guy that’s showing; I want to switch as well. I think that’ll make Coach Nurse’s job a little easier, as well.”

Maxey will work on all of that with a heavier wallet. Not only did the Sixers make good on their word, but they made his patience worthwhile, using that maximum cap slot to bring in George.

“Shout out to those guys that we’ve had come through here. Really appreciate them for their service. They were great here and I couldn’t ask for better vets and better people to help this franchise while they were here. I think Paul [George] is a guy who can do a lot of different things for us, especially because of already having a guy like Joel Embiid on our team. With Paul being able to spot up and knock down threes, that’s one of the biggest things you have to be able to do, playing on the floor with Joel. That, and then being able to create for himself, create off of Joel. And then he’s 6-foot-8, 6-foot-9, a guy who can guard multiple positions. I think he brings an overall different aspect of the game for us. We have a really good coach who’s going to help us put those pieces together, so we’re going to put that on him,” Maxey said with a laugh and wide grin.