Tyrese Maxey is excited for James Harden to join the Sixers on the court: ‘I just can’t wait’

Tyrese Maxey was driving home from the 76ers’ practice facility Thursday afternoon when his phone started blowing up with social-media notifications and calls and text messages from friends. The blockbuster trade had finally happened, with the Sixers acquiring James Harden and Paul Millsap in exchange for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round draft picks.

Maxey’s immediate reaction: “I just can’t wait.”

“It’s two MVP-caliber players on top of what we have here already,” said Maxey, referring to Harden and Sixers All-Star center Joel Embiid. “I think one thing that’s really going to help us is the chemistry and the brotherhood that we have here. … It’s easy to welcome people in, just because of the continuity that we have here already.

“The guys here like each other, like being around each other, like talking to each other and also like playing extremely hard for each other on the court. [We’ll try] to make the transition as easy as possible.”

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Maxey was a unique first person from the Sixers to speak to the media following the trade. The second-year point guard is a client of Klutch Sports Group’s Rich Paul, the agent who also represents Simmons, and works out with Simmons during the offseason. Maxey’s name was floated as rumors swirled in recent weeks, though he said he was much calmer this year than when he “was freaking out” while going through a similar scenario for the first time as a rookie last season.

And when asked if there is a sense of relief within the Sixers now that the Simmons saga is over, Maxey gently countered with, “I think this team has been focusing on basketball.”

“We kind of realized at the beginning of the year what the deal was,” Maxey said, “and we have to play with the guys that were on the floor and that came here every day. It is what it is. We’re all professionals, and this is our job.”

Maxey said Friday morning that he had not yet spoken to Harden, who did not play Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder and also is not expected to play Saturday against Cleveland. But becoming teammates with the 10-time All-Star is a bit surreal for the 21-year-old Maxey, who grew up in Dallas as Harden was becoming a dominant scorer for the Houston Rockets. Maxey said he regularly played as Harden on the NBA 2K video game, and that one of his closest friends and high-school teammates was “the biggest James Harden fan.”

Maxey, who converted to point guard this season in Simmons’ absence, said it’s too early to know how exactly his role will change while sharing a backcourt with Harden, an iso-heavy scorer who needs the ball in his hands. But Maxey said he is looking forward to watching film and chatting with Harden to “learn as much as I can.”

He is in the midst of a breakout season, averaging 16.9 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 47.1% from the floor and 39.8% from three-point range. He was selected to play in the Rising Stars Game at All-Star Weekend.

“Coach [Doc Rivers] literally just said the practices and the shootarounds now are going to be more intense, just because we got a limited amount of time to figure it out,” Maxey said.

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Maxey said he had not yet spoken to Simmons since the trade. But he and his Sixers teammates said goodbye to Curry and Drummond through their group chat, and emphasized it’s “all love” moving forward.

“Like they say, it’s a part of the business,” Maxey said of teammates departing. “But you still build relationships with certain guys. … You’re with each other so much throughout the course of the season, you become family to a certain extent. I love those guys — Seth, Ben, Andre, all of them. If they ever need anything from me, they have a brother.”

After missing 18 games with a back contusion, Sixers backup point guard Shake Milton returned to action Friday.

Milton sustained the injury on a hard fall late in the Sixers’ Jan. 3 win against Houston. Without him for more than a month, the Sixers’ secondary ballhandling had been an equal-opportunity endeavor that often fell to Furkan Korkmaz, Tobias Harris, and Curry.

He is averaging 10.5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 27 games this season.

Harden will wear No. 1 with the Sixers, a team official confirmed to The Inquirer Friday afternoon.

It’s the first time Harden will wear a number other than 13 in his NBA career. No. 13 is retired by the Sixers because it was worn by all-time great Wilt Chamberlain. Harden also wore 13 while playing for Arizona State and for Artesia High School near Los Angeles.

Millsap will wear No. 8, which he has never worn during his NBA career.