Sixers’ Montrezl Harrell says Tyrese Maxey remains upbeat despite staying sidelined with foot injury

Montrezl Harrell says Tyrese Maxey has remained upbeatdespite having his timeline to return extended.

Maxey, the 76ers’ standout guard, has been sidelined since Nov. 18 with a fractured left foot. The original timeline to return was three to four weeks. But Sixers coach Doc Rivers revealed Thursday that Maxey will remain sidelined for “at least a couple more weeks.”

But you wouldn’t know that by his demeanor.

“The same guy,” Harrell said Friday. “The same guy that comes in and smiles every day. He comes in and gets his work in. Even when he’s done his work, he still stays around for shootaround and watches the things that we’re doing.”

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Friday night’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors at the Wells Fargo Center marked the 13th game he missed because of the injury.

The 22-year-old has averaged 22.9 points, 4.4 assists, and 1.0 steal in 15 games. The Sixers miss his ability to push tempo and score with ease in transition.

At 7-foot-2 and 280 pounds, Warriors coach Steve Kerr says, Joel Embiid is unique to the modern NBA game.

The Sixers’ five-time All-Star reminds Kerr of the centers when he played in the late 1980s to early 2000s.

“We had a lot of big centers who dominated down on the block,” Kerr said. “These days, you just don’t see that. So what makes him unique is he can step out on the floor and put the ball on the floor, knock down jumpers and hit threes. He’s such a talented guy.

“So he’s a handful. You got to game plan for him. You have to come in with a plan and a backup plan and try a lot of different things.”

Jaden Springer is finding out opportunities are tough to come by as a late first-round pick on a veteran team.

The 20-year-old has logged a combined 17 minutes in six games since the Sixers selected him out of Tennessee with the 28th pick in the 2021 draft. Four of those appearances for 11 minutes came in this season’s first 28 games.

“I’m going to be honest, that’s tough sometimes,” Springer said, “but just remembering that everything’s a process. I’m working toward something. So I can’t get caught up in the moment. I just keep trusting my work. I know it’s going to pay off.”

The second-year guard is averaging 1.3 points and 0.8 rebounds this season. To get game repetitions, the Sixers frequently send him to their NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats.

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“Every time they send me down there, I’m happy to go,” he said. “I want to sometimes if I don’t have the opportunity to play up here. I would love to go to the G League and play, get the reps, and just get better.”

As one of the youngest second-year players, Springer has a huge upside. He’s a solid defender, but his shooting is a work in progress.

The Sixers, however, are in a win-now situation and can’t afford to have a player of his stature play through his mistakes. As a result, he’s behind reserve guards and wings De’Anthony Melton, Shake Milton, Danuel House Jr., and Furkan Korkmaz on the depth chart.