May 19, 2026
Colleen Claggett/for PhillyVoice
Tyrese Maxey is just about a lock to make All-NBA in his sixth season.
One thing I enjoy about putting out calls for Sixers mailbag questions: I never have any idea where it is going to lead.
Sometimes, the questions are what you might expect. People request approval of their creations on the trade machine, submit salary-cap questions and ask about Joel Embiid's health or life around an NBA team.
Sometimes, though, a question that I did not see coming comes in.
Let's dive into a one-question Sixers mailbag:
From @therealbrick1: Would you be in favor of a mini 2.0 Process tank of the next two years? Trade Tyrese Maxey for assets, build around VJ Edgecombe, be bad for 2026-27 and 2027-28, while trying to then keep your own top-eight protected 2028 first-round pick?
Let me start by saying that I cannot possibly imagine the Sixers trading Tyrese Maxey at any point in the near future, or any timeline close to that. He is still only 25 years old, just played an All-NBA season in his sixth campaign and has become the Sixers' unquestioned leader. The Sixers, as a franchise, are riddled with instability. Maxey is the calming presence on and off the court.
The case for trading Maxey is fatalistic, but that does not necessarily mean it is irrational. Maxey has three years left on his second NBA contract; even after signing a max deal he is underpaid on what some refer to as the "baby max."
Suggesting the Sixers should trade Maxey would not double as a statement that he is not good enough to lead the organization moving forward. If anything, the implication would be that the organization does not have enough to keep up with Maxey's rise and should get out ahead of that fact.
For the remainder of Maxey's contract, the Sixers will also be paying Embiid well over $60 million per season. Embiid has only logged 96 regular-season appearances across the last three seasons; if he does not experience a significant turnaround in terms of health and availability soon it will be nearly impossible for the Sixers to build a contending team over the remaining lives of Embiid and Maxey's contracts.
Right now, as much as people like to theorize about how much better the Sixers would be without Embiid's deal on their books, that is probably not an option. Given the enormity of his contract and his frequent lack of availability, trading for Embiid is likely a nonstarter for most NBA franchises.
That is how the case for dealing Maxey comes into focus: it is the only way to truly reset the organization.
Despite having the onerous contracts of Embiid and Paul George clogging their cap sheet, the Sixers have a decent forward-looking outlook right now even beyond Maxey. Edgecombe just had a brilliant rookie season at 20 years old and the Sixers are in a solid position in terms of future draft picks. They owe one first-rounder – the 2028 top-eight protected pick – to the Brooklyn Nets. But they also have the Los Angeles Clippers' unprotected first-round pick that year, and the right to swap picks with the Clippers the following season (top-three protected).
By trading Maxey, the Sixers would almost certainly go from having a decent collection of future picks to one of the stronger war chests of assets in the NBA. Just look at analogs for a hypothetical Maxey trade in recent NBA history:
| Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland, 2022 | Mikal Bridges to N.Y., 2024 | Desmond Bane to Orlando, 2025 |
| Three remaining years of control | Two remaining years of control | Four remaining years of control |
| Collin Sexton | Four unprotected first-round picks | No. 16 overall pick in 2025 NBA Draft |
| Lauri Markkanen | Top-four protected first-round pick | Three unprotected first-round picks |
| Ochai Agbaji (first-round pick entering rookie season) | Second-round pick | Top-two protected first-round swap |
| Three unprotected first-round picks | Three players (salary filler) | Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (negative-value asset) |
| Two unprotected first-round swaps | Cole Anthony |
It is not that hard of a scenario to envision: the Sixers trade Maxey, land a remarkable haul of assets, bottom out for two seasons and end up with the ability to reload in 2028 or 2029 around a surging Edgecombe.
All of that, however, is much easier said than done.
One factor that will impact NBA transactions on nearly every level: the league's incoming draft lottery reform, significantly flattening the odds introducing considerably more randomness to which teams get the top picks in the draft. It could limit how many first-round picks teams are willing to trade in one deal and how much value distant first-rounders carry in deals altogether. It also severely complicates the idea of the Sixers just choosing to ensure they hold onto that top-eight protected pick in 2028.
Then there is the basketball-centric risk of it. This would put an enormous amount of pressure on Edgecombe to make massive leaps as an on-ball player and do it sooner than later. It is not that he cannot do it – nobody should put anything past Edgecombe – but there is something very calming for the Sixers about having two outstanding young guards with a clean on-court fit and a meaningful off-court relationship.
And ultimately, the reason it is so difficult to imagine the Sixers even considering something like this is that it would cause utter chaos locally.
Breaking up Maxey and Edgecombe after one glorious year will lead to a whole lot of wondering about what could have been – with zero guarantee of a Maxey trade leading the Sixers to places they have not already been over the last decade. It is incredibly difficult to land a player as good as Maxey at any point, even if you are armed with many enticing picks down the line.
The last two years of Sixers basketball have largely been deflating for fans of the team. The organization's current job is ensuring complete apathy does not kick in. Triggering a long-term rebuild by dealing Maxey, arguably one of just two members of the franchise with a positive approval rating, might be the move that turns folks away for good – even if the idea is not without some merit.
