76ers' Tyrese Maxey named NBA's Most Improved Player

Finally, some good news for the 76ers.

Tyrese Maxey got his hands on some hardware, as the breakout guard was named the NBA's Most Improved Player on Tuesday after he exploded into an offensive engine in the absence of James Harden and Joel Embiid.

The 23-year-old set career-high marks in points (25.9), rebounds (3.7), assists (6.2) and steals (1.0) while carrying a massive offensive burden for Philadelphia in his fourth year in the NBA. He was named an all-star for the first time in his career.

“It feels great,” Maxey said on the TNT broadcast where the award was announced. “Somebody like myself, who prides myself on putting in a lot of work and outworking people and finding ways to get 1 per cent better every single time I step in the gym, it feels good for that to come to light, honestly.”

Maxey edged Chicago's Coby White in the voting. Houston's Alperen Sengun was third. White averaged 19.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game — all career highs. Sengun averaged 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals in 32.5 minutes per game — also all career highs.

Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams and New York's Jalen Brunson rounded out the top five. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also got a shout, receiving one second-place vote to finish 13th in voting.

“Congratulations, Tyrese! The Most Improved Player award is a testament to your incredible work ethic including countless early mornings in the gym perfecting your craft,” Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said in a press release on Tuesday. “Your journey to All-Star in just your fourth season is inspirational to everyone who watches you play. Your dedication to continuous improvement and excellence has you on the path from MIP to MVP.”

The departure of Harden at the start of the season created a hole for Maxey to fill for the team's offence as the lead guard. Then, when reigning MVP Embiid went down with a meniscus injury in the middle of the season, Maxey became the centrepiece of Philadelphia's offence.

He scored 50 points three times this season, tying teammate Joel Embiid for the most this season. He scored his career-high 52 points on April 7 against the San Antonio Spurs.

“Tyrese is a tireless worker who has elevated his game to an All-Star level in a short period of time. In my years of coaching against him and our one year together so far, it is clear that he brings a special joy and energy to the game of basketball and his enthusiasm and work ethic will continue to lift his game for years to come,” said Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse.

He has done well so far in the playoffs as well, scoring 33 points in Game 1 and 35 in Game 2 against the New York Knicks in the first round.

Maxey has also received votes for the award after the 2021-22 season when he saw his scoring average jump nearly 10 points from the year prior.

He becomes the second 76ers player to win the award after guard Dana Barros won it after the 1994-95 season.

The MIP award was the first of seven individual trophies that will be handed out in the coming weeks, along with All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.

The Sixth Man gets announced Wednesday (Sacramento’s Malik Monk, Milwaukee’s Bobby Portis or Minnesota’s Naz Reid); Clutch Player on Thursday (Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Chicago’s DeMar DeRozan or Gilgeous-Alexander); and Coach of the Year on Sunday (Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault, Minnesota’s Chris Finch or Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley).

All those announcements will be made on TNT’s pregame shows that night.

The schedule for the other awards has yet to be released by the league. There’s Rookie of the Year (San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama, Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren or Charlotte’s Brandon Miller); Defensive Player of the Year (Wembanyama, Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert or Miami’s Bam Adebayo); and Most Valuable Player (Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Dallas’ Luka Doncic or Gilgeous-Alexander).

-- With files from the Associated Press