Tyrese Maxey just suffered a right pinky tendon injury on his shooting hand, and this could not come at a worse time. After colliding with Adem Bona, his own teammate during a loss to the Hawks, Maxey has been confirmed to be out for at least 3 weeks, with a re-evaluation coming in early April. While this individual injury could ruin the 76ers chances at a play-in seed, the bigger problem is the rest of the injuries: Joel Embiid (Oblique Strain) and Paul George (Suspension) are also both out.

Tyrese Maxey has carried the 76ers all season, and this injury might finally reveal how fragile the roster really is without any of their star players.

Maxey Has Been a Superstar Carry Job

Tyrese Maxey this season has been an All-NBA calibre player, scoring at an elite level with 29 Points, 4th in the NBA, while dishing out 6.7 Assists, pulling down 4.1 Rebounds and getting 2 Steals a game, 2nd in the NBA. He has been a clear pick for post season accolades, and injuries were the last thing he was worrying about, playing in 61 games on 38.3 Minutes each game, leading the NBA in Minutes and is 7th in the NBA in games played for players averaging more then 20+ PPG.

For a high usage guard like Maxey, the efficiency isn’t that bad, shooting 46.1% from the field, on a decent 37.3% from 3 Point territory and 89.3% from the line, giving him a 58.9% True Shooting. Compared to other seasons of Maxey’s where he shot 40%+ from 3, 50%+ from the field and nearly 90% from the stripe, this season does feel a bit less efficient, but when taking into account he is averaging 21 more points then in his rookie season, I don’t think we need to worry.

The player efficiency rating is a stat that determines the total efficiency of a player, adding up the good stats like points, rebounds and assists, while subtracting the bad ones like missed shots and turnovers. Tyrese Maxey has a PER of 22.6, putting him 6th in the NBA. His +5.8 Box Plus Minus is elite, but for a losing team means not much. His Value Over Replacement score of 4.6 means he is elite, but not quite an MVP candidate, and with 8 Win Shares, that put’s him in the top 5 in the league.

The 76ers also have a +0.9 Net Rating with Maxey, and a -6.1 without him, proving he is their most valuable asset. Tyrese Maxey has transformed from a rising star who was having a pretty slow start to his NBA career, to now being the offensive engine pushing a team trying to make the playoffs.

The Sixers Collapse Without Him

This injury could not have come at a worse time for the Philadelphia 76ers. They sit 35-30, 8th in the East and holding onto that Play-In spot. They are 11.5 Games behind the Pistons for 1st and sit only 1 game ahead of the Hawks. The type of injury will take Maxey out for not just 3 weeks, but also an extra week minimum to get back into his Top-10 Player form.

As a whole, the 76ers aren’t completely terrible, they rank 14th on offense and 17th in defense, perfectly mediocre statistics, but mediocre does not win championships, let alone regular season games. 1 major stat people have some concerns with is that the 76ers have a -19.6 Net Rating when Maxey, Embiid and George are all off the floor, which is the case for the next 3 weeks.

Outside of their “big three”, the roster lacks a true next man up mentality like the Thunder, and they don’t have that deep supporting cast roster to carry them through this draught. The team lacks shot creation, defensive consistency ad most importantly, reliable scoring options.

Even when you factor in their so called big 3, their roster still looks weak, and is the reason why many discard the fact of them being contenders:

Joel Embiid is averaging 26.6 Points, low from his previous 30+ PPG, but still productive on the scoring end. One of the only issues I have is that he is never on the court. A mere 33 games played this season, half of what the NBA’s leader in Games, Mikal Bridges, has played.

The same issue remains for Paul George, who was found using drugs earlier in the season and was suspended very swiftly for 25 games, and can return on March 25th vs the Bulls. He has played 27 games regardless, and scoring only 16 Points on horrible efficiency, all career lows for the veteran.

Tyrese Maxey has been the clear leader in Philadelphia this season, and with him missing time, this raises 2 questions the 76ers need to answer: How will Nick Nurse adjust the roster to supplement a massive blow, and are they truly in the play-in battle.

Because with about 20 games left in the 2025-26 Season, every single loss matters, but if they don’t make the playoffs and they miss out because if this Maxey injury, does this prove the fact that the Philadelphia 76ers officially belong to Tyrese Maxey?

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