BOSTON -- The Philadelphia 76ers are armed with many new ball-handlers who can run the offense out on the floor and move the dynamic Tyrese Maxey off the ball and allow him to unlock new ways to score. After averaging 28.3 points in 2025-26, Maxey could be even more dangerous in the coming season.
With guys like LeBron James and Jaylen Brown in tow plus the continued development of VJ Edgecombe, it allows Maxey to play off the ball and tap into his catch-and-shoot game a bit. An already deadly 3-point shooter, Maxey can really let loose just coming off screens and step into open 3s thanks to the elite passing of his teammates.
"The best thing about this? I got two catch-and-shoot 3s last game," Maxey said in reference to the Oct. 8 matchup with
the Brooklyn Nets. "I didn’t get many of those the last two years, you know what I’m saying? Maybe the last three years. So that’s a piece of my game that’s really, really good, and if I can get some more of those, that would be great. And I plan to with this group."
Maxey did shoot 41.8% on catch-and-shoot 3-pointers in 2025-26 per NBA Stats. The fact that he'll be able to unlock more of that part of his game is going to be an added aspect to Philadelphia's offensive attack. Him playing next to these new ball-handlers makes life a little easier and unlocks that off-ball offensive role for him in his seventh season.
"It’s great, because I’m still on the ball a little bit sometimes, especially probably down the stretch of games," Maxey said on Saturday after a preseason loss to the Boston Celtics. "But I feel like not having to score with the entire defense looking at me all the time, not having to make plays with the entire defense looking at me all the time. Being able to be a secondary playmaker, sometimes when the first action happens and you get to the second side, being on the second side, the defense doesn't like to shift sides all the time. It’s good. I think it’ll be really good for our offense, really good for everybody else, for us to be able to create."
The Sixers will finish up the exhibition schedule on Friday when they play host to the Celtics in a preseason rematch.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Tyrese Maxey gives thoughts on role of being Sixers' off-ball scorer
