NBA Insider Offers Promising Update on 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey

Is Tyrese Maxey on pace to return within his initial timeframe?

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers couldn’t say for sure when Tyrese Maxey would return to the court after suffering a small fracture in his foot last month.

“If I gave you a two-week thing, I don’t even know what I’m talking about,” Rivers said after the Sixers’ Wednesday afternoon practice, discussing Maxey’s progress. 

While Rivers didn’t have a definitive update on Maxey’s timeline for return, ESPN’s NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski offered some insight on the situation during a segment on NBA Today.

“I’m told that he is still on target for that one-month timeline from that November 19 injury — that left foot fracture," said Wojnarowski. "So that takes you to about two weeks from now. There's a stretch there when the Sixers have Toronto, Detroit, the Clippers in that window, but the expectation is he's on course to be back before Christmas.”

When Maxey was officially diagnosed with a small fracture following an MRI, Wojnarowski initially mentioned there would be a three-to-four-week timetable for Maxey’s recovery.

This upcoming Saturday would mark three weeks since Maxey suffered the setback. Based on the information Doc Rivers offered regarding Maxey on Wednesday, the third-year guard is unlikely to return at the earliest point, which would be sometime later this week.

“Today, he ran. He’s still not jumping, though, which is a concern,” said Rivers. “He did not sprint, but he did run up and down the floor. He’s not been able to do that. I guess the only concerning thing is he’s not able to jump yet, so that would mean he’s ways away, to say the least.”

Maxey is no longer sporting a walking boot and is running and shooting the ball. While it seems he’s avoided setbacks, considering the Sixers hold out hope he’ll still return within the timeframe that was initially put in place, Maxey is trending toward missing a month’s worth of games for the first time in his young career. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.