Forget All-Star, Tyrese Maxey Is Building a Real All-NBA Case

There's a real case to be made that Tyrese Maxey has been one of the NBA's six best guards this season.

Dec 20, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) reacts to his three point score against the Dallas Mavericks during the fourth quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Tyrese Maxey already appears to be in line to start in his first All-Star Game this year. He should have his eye on higher individual prizes, though.

With Nikola Jokić in the midst of an all-time great season, Maxey isn't likely to factor into the MVP conversation this year. However, he should be smack dab in the All-NBA discussion.

First, the usual caveat when it comes to these discussions: Players need to play in at least 65 games—and must play at least 20 minutes in 63 of those—to be eligible for the All-NBA team. That's particularly notable for Luka Dončić, who has already missed seven games this season, and Stephen Curry, who has missed nine. Dončić would be ineligible for an All-NBA nod if he misses more than 10 of the Lakers' 52 remaining games, while Curry can only miss eight of the Warriors' final 50 games.

As long as Dončić and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander are eligible, they figure to take the two first-team All-NBA backcourt spots. That leaves four backcourt spots remaining, with Curry, Maxey, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell all in legitimate contention. Austin Reaves, James Harden, Devin Booker and Jamal Murray are on the periphery of that conversation as well.

Maxey compares favorably to all of them.

How Maxey stacks up to other All-NBA candidates

Heading into Tuesday's action, Maxey ranks third leaguewide in scoring with 30.7 points per game. He's one of only three players in the league averaging at least 30 points, six assists and four rebounds per game, joining Dončić and Gilgeous-Alexander.

That alone is a fairly emphatic All-NBA case for Maxey. However, he stacks up well to all other non-Luka/SGA guards when comparing him head-to-head, as this chart from Stathead shows.

Stathead

Maxey holds the edge over Cunningham, Brunson, Curry, Edwards and Mitchell in both box plus/minus and value over replacement player, two key catch-all metrics. He also leads them all in both steals and blocks per game, which speaks to the strides he's made defensively this year.

Team success might be a tiebreaker in favor of Cunningham, Brunson and Edwards, but Curry and Mitchell are also both on teams hovering around .500. The Sixers will likely need to stay in the playoff race to keep Maxey's All-NBA case afloat, but their record shouldn't disqualify him from All-NBA contention as long as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors don't surge toward the top of their respective conferences.

The question is whether Maxey can sustain this level of production all year. He's cooled off over the past week with only 22.7 points, 5.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game across the Sixers' past three games, all of which were losses. It's unfair to expect Maxey to go off for 30-plus points nightly, but given the uncertain availability of Joel Embiid on a game-to-game basis, that's what the Sixers need most of the time.

Besides, as simplistic as this might sound, voters like round numbers. There isn't a huge statistical difference between 27-28 points per game and 30 points per game, but the latter sounds far more impressive, particularly if that puts Maxey in exclusive company this season. Being one of only three players to average 30-6-4 along with the two front-runners for the first-team All-NBA spots is a cut-and-dried resume.  

Some nitpickers also might note that Maxey is leading the league with 39.7 minutes per game, which is helping him put up his impressive counting stats. If the Sixers look to bring him down to the 35-36 minutes per game range moving forward and his production dips accordingly, that could also hurt his All-NBA case.

Granted, extended absences from Curry, Dončić or another All-NBA contender could open a spot that otherwise appears locked up this year. Jokić's injury Monday was a stark reminder of how much things can change at a moment's notice at this point in the NBA season. Either way, though, Maxey is building a strong All-NBA case for himself through the first half of the 2025-26 season.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.

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