Tyrese Maxey named NBA’s 2023-2024 Most Improved Player

Tyrese Maxey has officially won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award for the 2023-2024 season, beating out Chicago’s Coby White and Houston’s Alperen Sengun. Maxey is the first 76ers player to win this award since Dana Barros in the 1994-1995 season.

Maxey was named an all-star for the first time in his four-year career and notched career-highs in points and assists with per-game averages of 25.9 points and 6.2 assists on 45.0% shooting from the field (20.3 field goals attempts) and 37.3% from three (8.1 three-point attempts). The newly-crowned MIP attempted the highest rate of shot attempts in his career as his role evolved in multiple ways that allowed him to develop into arguably a top-25 player in the NBA.

Tyrese Maxey is the winner of the 2023-24 NBA Most Improved Player award 🏆

◻️ '22-'23: 20.3 PPG, 3.5 APG
◻️ '23-'24: 25.9 PPG, 6.2 APG pic.twitter.com/GVeuj1hQto

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) April 23, 2024

Tyrese Maxey’s rollercoaster regular season

This season has been far from easy for the 76ers, but Tyrese Maxey has made the best of the different situations he’s found himself in while a lot of other players in his position would crumble under pressure. Getting one percent better every day has paid off as Maxey has evolved into a franchise cornerstone, who has elevated his game to ridiculous heights as an offensive creator.

At the start of the year, the 76ers were dealing with James Harden’s trade request as he clashed with Daryl Morey. At the time, it was unknown if Harden would play as Philadelphia looked to fulfill his request, but Harden didn’t play in the 76ers’ first four games of the season and was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers shortly after.

With Harden headed to the Clippers, Maxey had to adjust from being a third-option to the duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden to being a legit co-star alongside Embiid on a championship-contending team on such short notice. But, Maxey rose to the challenge and improved every aspect of his game as he and Embiid took the NBA by storm. Heading into February, the 76ers were 29-13 and one game behind the Milwaukee Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference with Embiid and Maxey performing at the top of their respective games. 

Maxey and Embiid have only lost four games together since January 1st.

Three of the losses have been against the Knicks. pic.twitter.com/jM0OtmMmYq

— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 23, 2024

Overall, Maxey took strides as a three-level scorer in isolation with much-improved perimeter shot creation and aggressiveness while attacking the rim, shoutout Harden. But, the biggest aspect of his game that evolved was his playmaking, especially out of the pick-and-roll. Maxey made more instinctive reads as he drew defenders off Embiid’s screen, which created easy offense for Embiid and weak-side shooters, similar to what Harden did in his Philadelphia days, while Embiid was playing at a unanimous MVP level, looking like the best player on the planet.

However, Embiid went down with a meniscus injury that caused him to be sidelined for eight weeks, which required Tyrese Maxey to once again change his role, this time to the number one option to keep the 76ers’ playoff hopes alive. Maxey started to face much more aggressive defensive coverages like instant double teams and traps off the pick-and-roll that only helped him grow as a facilitator and playmaker. Sure, Maxey had a few learning curves during this stretch, but seeing these different coverages and facing the mental and physical pressure of being the lead guy, has only helped him develop into the star he is today. 

"A lot of film study went into that, a lot of work went into that. I just want to be the best possible version of myself […] Joel going down was one of the biggest things. Obviously we didn't want that, but it really helped me grow my game and my leadership and grow into what I…

— Jacob Moreno (@Jacobmorenonba) April 23, 2024

Joel Embiid made his return in early April and as a result, Tyrese Maxey’s role was once again shifted back to a co-star. The 76ers’ star duo picked right back up where they left off as Philadelphia won eight straight games to close out the regular season, including a career-high 52 points against the San Antonio Spurs, and crucially clinched the 7th seed in a comeback victory against the Miami Heat in the Play-In tournament. 

Tyrese Maxey has carried this Most Improved Player mantra into the playoffs as he’s averaging 34.0 points per game and 7.0 assists per game on 54.0% shooting from the field in games one and two against the New York Knicks. Despite Maxey’s elite postseason translation, the 76ers find themselves down 2-0 to New York and look to shift momentum in game three on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Mandatory Credit: Copyright 2024 NBAE(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)