Tyrese Maxey tried his hand at post play in the Sixers’ season opener. Could that be a sign of things to come?

For all we know, Tyrese Maxey — who has talked about adding strength and physicality to his game in the offseason — was moments away from a vicious drop-step followed by a ferocious dunk that would have impressed Shaquille O’Neal.

Alas, we’ll never know.

Damian Lillard appeared to poke the ball away from behind with 3 minutes, 29 seconds left in the first quarter of the Sixers’ season-opening loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Maxey never returned to the low post again that night.

Jokes aside, the sequence is easy to mistake as inconsequential. Perhaps Maxey’s inefficient 10-for-31 shooting performance merits more attention.

Dig deeper, though, and you might discover something that could elevate the burgeoning star’s game and give the Sixers a needed dimension that could pay dividends in the playoffs.

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At the very least, it will give you something to watch for this weekend as the Sixers face the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers.

“It [was] more of like just scoring or trying to be aggressive, without using as much energy,” Maxey told the Inquirer when asked about his attempt to post Lillard during postgame remarks following the Sixers’ 124-109 loss.

Without Joel Embiid and Paul George, both of whom were out with injuries, the Bucks defense, predictably, focused on Maxey, who last season was named the NBA’s most improved player.

Maxey dissected the Bucks’ defense early, leaving several defenders wobbling like day-old deer as he drove to the basket to “oohs” and “ahhhs” from fans at the Wells Fargo Center.

Eventually, though, Milwaukee’s defense allowed fewer opportunities in transition, which frequently forced Maxey to initiate offense from the top of the key, where five defenders could easily track him.

In fact, two of Brook Lopez’s game-high six blocked shots came against Maxey.

But what if Maxey used his new found strength in the post, where his explosiveness is merely one dribble from the rim and help defense can’t prepare as easily?

Don’t misunderstand. Initiating offense from the low post doesn’t necessarily mean bludgeoning defenders with the brute force O’Neal once employed.

But imagine Maxey catching the ball in the mid-post and then turning to face his defender with a free dribble. He apparently has.

“Being at the top all the time,” Maxey continued Wednesday night, “especially if Joel or PG is not playing, because I’m going to be a high-minute guy, and that’s what I’m conditioned to do, but you want to be able to conserve some of that energy. And always attacking from the top, always going downhill with the defense looking at you, makes it become difficult.

“So those are a few things that I worked on. And, again, like I said, they didn’t show tonight. Of course, I shot poorly. I played poorly overall. But I’ll definitely be better.”

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So keep an eye on Maxey’s minutes tonight in Toronto. Observe where he initiates offense. Will the Sixers get him one or two touches in the low or mid-post each quarter?

Now imagine how it could benefit the Sixers in the long run if Maxey gets eight opportunities per night throughout the season to use his newfound strength against other elite Eastern Conference point guards.

A potential playoff rematch against the New York Knicks in May could yield opportunities for the Sixers to force Jalen Brunson to guard Maxey down low.

Consider how the Boston Celtics, through clever screening concepts that dictated matchups, lessened Dallas Mavericks star Luke Dončić’s offensive effectiveness in the NBA Finals by forcing him to expend energy on the defensive end.

Then imagine the benefits of having another pressure point Maxey could apply to a defense, especially during key minutes when the offense sputtered last season when Embiid rested on the bench.

So, again, keep an eye on tonight’s contest in Toronto, and pay attention to where Nick Nurse positions Maxey offensively.