ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst recently reported that the 76ers would not entertain any trades that involve Tyrese Maxey, and any offer involving him would be a non-starter, even for Damian Lillard.
That is a stance Joe Giglio can’t wrap his head around.
“What are we doing here? I’m flabbergasted,” Joe said. “I can’t believe we’re at the point…the idea that Tyrese Maxey is untouchable, and they won’t trade him for Damian Lillard, I believe that’s ridiculous.
“We’re talking about a guy who has been one of the better players in the league for 8-10 years…and if they let Damian Lillard get to Miami, it’s over. The window is over.”
Maxey is a promising homegrown player who just averaged 20.3 points per game at 22 years old, but Lillard, even as he closes in on 33 years old, is coming off his seventh All-Star season, and averaged a career-high 32.2 points per game. That is not a player to turn away just because of Maxey’s potential.
“I know he’s a good, young player, and it’s cool because he was drafted here,” Joe said of Maxey. “The reason you draft a kid like Maxey is because you hope he becomes a guy like Damian Lillard. I don’t think he ever will.
“The idea that the Sixers won’t trade Maxey to get Dame Lillard, I think it’s ridiculous.”