3 Positive stories for the Philadelphia 76ers this season
With so much negativity and drama surrounding the team and the 76ers twitter-sphere, I feel obliged to try and renew the optimism that fans carried into the previous season. Love or hate Ben in this whole situation, why not drive our focus to the more positive stories that are going to carry over into this season.
3. Tyrese Maxey is a future all-star
Within the first few moments Maxey set his foot on the basketball floor in a 76ers uniform, we knew this kid was something special. Daryl Morey and his front office got their first draft pick right. Something that Philadelphia has undeniably struggled with ranging from Okafor to Michael Carter Williams to Elfrid Payton. Whether it was his floaters or the record-breaking career-high 39 points against the Denver Nuggets when the whole team was out due to COVID protocols, there are clear signs that Maxey is an all-star in the making. With potential starting minutes to come in for him with the Ben Simmons debacle, there are great things to look forward to for the 20-year-old this season. While there were several significant stats the night Maxey scored 39, the one that stood out for me is the fact that he only had two turnovers, showing he is truly a mature player for his age.
2. Why is nobody talking more about Matisse Thybulle?
It feels like a while ago, but I firmly believe Matisse did not receive the attention he deserved in the offseason. Not only did he earn second-team all-defense in just his second season, but he did it starting from the bench. He went on to cap the season by leading the entire Olympics in total steals (18) and steals per game (3). From all these accolades, I am longing to see the stride Thybulle makes on the offensive end of the floor. Danny Green aged 34 will need a replacement at the end of his contract and there is not a better replacement than Thybulle himself. If Matisse can improve his three-point catch and shoot percentage from 30% to upwards of 35%, there can be little argument that Philadelphia will have one of the premium 3 and D players in the league. To top all this off, the response he gave on the J.J Reddick podcast on this whole situation showed his maturity and supports why he can be considered a leader of the team despite not being an all-star.
- Seth Curry is the light
In what you could describe as one of the most disappointing series losses in 76ers history against the Hawks last season. There was one man that was a light shining strong in a dark alley. Seth Curry. We were so caught up in the feelings and emotions of the loss that we truly failed to recognise how great he was in that series. Averaging 18.8 points and shooting at 50% from three, Curry had his career-best playoff run showing his potential to step up during the biggest games. He was the second-best player during the Hawks series after Joel Embiid (Yes, he was better than Tobias Harris). He even had a slight improvement on his assists tally last season posing a question of his fit at the point. Currently being a catch and shooter, he has a higher three-point percentage than his brother but if he undertakes any modelling to match Steph, his game will be lifted to a new level. Obviously, for this, he would need a lot more touches on the ball and more of a pull-up game but in a season that we could potentially go in without a point guard, this sounds like a good time to try it out.
