To say the very least, this season for the Philadelphia 76ers has been a rollercoaster. We have all spent countless nights with our mouths open in disgust or joy watching this team play basketball over the last three months. Things haven’t gone well, however one of the bright spots has been the play of Tyrese Maxey.

Maxey has stepped into the starting point guard position and has looked mature beyond his years. This maturity shined especially bright when Joel Embiid was felled by COVID-19 and missed three weeks in November.

A lesser player would have buckled under the pressure of the absence of his team’s lone superstar. Not Maxey. He protected the ball and averaged 24 points per game in Embiid’s absence. The team didn’t win a lot, but there was plenty of talk about moral victories. Some people find that sort of thing gratifying. (Not Me)

Then Embiid returned…

Since Embiid came back to the starting lineup Maxey’s production has fallen off a cliff. He suddenly became more prone to turnovers and has often deterred open looks to his teammates rather than attacking the basket or pulling up for a jump shot. His entire offensive game seemed thrown off by having to play with arguably the best center in the league. How could this happen?

Sure, Doc Rivers has all but admitted he has no idea how to utilize Maxey on the floor with Embiid. Going so far as to tell people not to expect the dynamic scorer to score. Wow, thanks Doc, at least you’re being honest.

And yeah, once Embiid returned Doc appeared to run the offense as though Maxey were Ben Simmons, by sliding him down in the dunker spot as the offense went through their play progressions. Clearly, there’s a significant size difference between Maxey and Simmons, so that’s not an ideal strategy.

With all that information out of the way, I’d like to propose a more exotic possibility in why Maxey’s progression hasn’t translated well when Embiid is on the court.

What if Tyrese Maxey is a Klutch Sports double agent?

Back when the Ben Simmons saga first broke out into the open, Tyrese Maxey was reported to be a key part of any possible trade. Rich Paul reportedly didn’t want any of his clients playing for the Sixers anymore. We all remember the ridiculous reports coming out from unknown reporters trying to be 76ers’ “insiders.”

Before we continue, I would like to apologize for using a Jason Dumas tweet as an example in pretty much anything. His “sources” about organized boo groups was one of the most pathetic attempts at journalism I have ever seen.

So of course, the tweets above were quickly dismissed and furthermore, it was reported that both Tyrese Maxey and Rich Paul found the whole thing laughable. How convenient. I find anything that Jason Dumas is laughable too but that’s beyond the point.

Something stinks about this. What if Tyrese Maxey is acting on the orders of Rich Paul to sandbag the Sixers while on the floor with Joel Embiid? Purposefully feeding the ball to the less than competent Tobias Harris in pivotal moments, and suddenly going ice cold from the field.

It’s crazy but think about it:

Who benefits if the Sixers don’t have a reliable point guard to pair with Embiid? Suddenly there’s a ton of pressure to get a deal done. Maybe you accept less than you’d normally hold out for if you had a solid point guard.

Bolstering this theory was Maxey’s performance against the Grizzlies. Once again in Embiid’s absence, Maxey stepped up and led the team in scoring. The Sixers were beaten like an old rug, but Maxey looked good again. The mind can only help but wander into the realm of conspiracy.

Then again, Doc Rivers.