Where Sixers' Star Guards Rank Among NBA's Best Young Backcourts

Not much has gone right for the Sixers over the past two months. Zoom out to the bigger picture, though, and they answered one massive question this season.

Last year, Tyrese Maxey appeared to stagnate and struggle with the defensive attention he received amidst Paul George and Joel Embiid's injuries. This year, he came in far more prepared to be the No. 1 option when needed.

He proved it by averaging a career-high 29.0 points and 6.7 assists in a league-high 38.3 minutes per game before suffering a fluke finger injury at the beginning of March. That injury could cost him an All-NBA nod that he otherwise appeared to be on cruise control toward.

Meanwhile, VJ Edgecombe hit the ground running and hasn't looked back since. In fact, he's fresh off a career-high 38-point, 11-assist night in a blowout win over the Sacramento Kings that came without Embiid, Maxey or George.

Maxey and Edgecombe suddenly give the Sixers a brighter post-Embiid outlook. HoopsHype recently put into perspective how bright it might be.

Where Sixers' backcourt ranks among most promising

Frank Urbina of HoopsHype published his NBA Future Rankings on Friday, which attempt to predict the best players in the NBA during the 2030-21 season. Older stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are nowhere to be found.

Two Sixers made the top 20. You'll never guess which two.

Edgecombe landed at No. 15, ahead of San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle, Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley and Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, among others. That's some lofty company to be in.

Maxey's is even better. He was No. 10, directly ahead of Houston Rockets center Alperen Şengün and Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams. He was right beyond Jayson Tatum, who will be 33 by then, and Jalen Johnson, who's also in the midst of his own breakout season.

The Thunder (Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) and the Celtics (Tatum and Jaylen Brown) are the only teams other than the Sixers with two players in the top 15. Castle was 16th, so the Spurs—who also have No. 1-with a-bullet Victor Wembayama—weren't far off making that cut as well.

No team other than the Sixers has two guards in the top 20, though. And honestly, that checks out.

A few teams do have better guards than Maxey, including OKC (SGA), the Lakers (Luka Dončić) and the Timberwolves (Anthony Edwards). But the list of players better than him is getting far shorter than it was even last year.

And none of those guys have a backcourt teammate like Edgecombe.

Who's the Sixers' biggest threat?

The Lakers are the closest with both Luka and Austin Reaves, provided that the Lakers can re-sign the latter when he becomes a free agent this offseason. Luka just turned 27 in February, while Reaves is turning 28 in May.

They're better than the Maxey-Edgecombe backcourt right now, but it's also a stretch to call two guys in their late 20s a "young" backcourt. In five years, Maxey and Edgecombe will likely have the edge on them.

Edwards is better than Maxey and Edgecombe, but Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu and Bones Hyland aren't likely to outproduce either one of them in a few years' time. The same goes for OKC, although if Jared McCain winds up being better than Edgecombe, that might be the Joker moment for the entire Sixers fanbase.

Jalen Suggs and Anthony Black? Meh. LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel? Be serious. Tyrese Haliburton (when healthy) and Andrew Nembhard? Getting closer, but still no dice.

The Cleveland Cavaliers were in this chat with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, but they decided to flip Garland for Harden to further accelerate their win-now window. After all, Harden has such an illustrious career in the playoffs, how could they not? (Jokes aside, it was a smart gamble.)

The Spurs will be the biggest threat moving forward with Castle, Dylan Harper and De'Aaron Fox. However, the Spurs also won't be able to afford all three of Castle, Harper and Fox long-term since they'll also have Wembanyama. They'll have to trade at least one of those three away in the next few years.

Of course, that will lead to them getting more assets, which is nightmare fuel for the rest of the league.

If the Sixers didn't have the contracts of George and Embiid weighing them down, they'd be in an optimal spot from a team-building perspective. Maxey is only on a 25% max and Edgecombe is still on his rookie-scale contract for three more years.

Unfortunately, they do have the contracts of George and Embiid weighing them down. The good news is that Maxey and Edgecombe made most of the season fun before injuries began to mount like it was 2024-25 all over again.