The 76ers’ new-look core comes with a real question attached: how do you keep everyone fed when the ball only has one shape?
Philadelphia’s offseason trade for Jaylen Brown changed the conversation fast. The Sixers are now being viewed as one of the teams to beat, but the first concern people keep circling is pretty obvious.
Brown is coming off his biggest on-ball workload yet, and he joins a group that already includes Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and VJ Edgecombe. On paper, that can look crowded.
But that same addition may be exactly what Maxey needs.
For much of last season, Philadelphia had little choice but to lean hard on Maxey as a creator. With Embiid and Paul George missing significant chunks before George was traded, Maxey had to do more than just score. He was asked to carry the offense as a distributor and shot creator, even though his game is built around getting buckets from anywhere on the floor.
Brown changes that equation.
Instead of squeezing Maxey, Brown should open up more space for him to work without the ball. That is the part of Maxey’s game that tends to get overlooked.
He is not just a guard who needs the ball in his hands every trip. He can punish defenses as a finisher, and that role should become more pronounced now that Philadelphia has another high-usage star in the mix.
Maxey just posted his best season yet, and nothing about this setup suggests a drop-off is coming. He will still get plenty of reps with the ball, but his responsibilities should be cleaner. With Brown in the fold, the coaching staff has more reason to use Maxey as an actual play finisher instead of treating him like the team’s only engine.
The usage numbers back up the shift. Brown finished third in the NBA in usage rate last season, Maxey was 22nd among qualified players, and Embiid was right behind Brown at No.
- All three figures are expected to come down in 2026-27.
Normally, that kind of decline would raise alarms about production. In Maxey’s case, it may do the opposite. Among Philadelphia’s new core four, he is the best off-ball operator, which gives the Sixers a real path to keeping him dangerous even if the ball-sharing gets messy at times.
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