Sizing up Tyrese Maxey's All-Star competition

One of the major questions as this Sixers season began was: will Tyrese Maxey make another leap?

It turns out that the answer was a resounding yes. Maxey has been playing remarkable basketball all season long, affirming his status as one of the league's very best guards. 

The next question: is he an All-Star? 

In a vacuum, the answer is certainly yes. He has performed at an All-Star-level — that much is certain. In a crowded field of Eastern Conference guards, he came in fifth place in the first returns of fan voting, which accounts for 50 percent of the voting population. Maxey's case must be evaluated against those of several other elite scorers and playmakers (ranked in descending order of fan voting results):

Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana Pacers

Indiana's floor general extraordinaire is the frontrunner to nab the first of two starting guard spots in the East thanks to an absurd combination of scoring and playmaking. Halliburton is averaging 24.9 points per game while on the borderline of 50-40-90 shooting splits. And, by the way, he leads the league with 12.7 assists per contest.

The Pacers currently have the best Offensive Rating in the entire NBA, and it is thanks to Haliburton's wizardry. He is rightfully a shoe-in for the All-Star Game.

Damian Lillard, Milwaukee Bucks

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Lillard, who came in second place in the first return of fan voting, is averaging the fewest points per game he has scored in a full regular season since 2015-16. However, he is still averaging 25.4 points per game, barely trailing Maxey. It's a testament to his longevity as a full-fledged superstar in this league, and he has maintained his excellence during his first year in the Eastern Conference.

Lillard is barely trailing Maxey in points per game, but his efficiency has been better and he has a small lead in assists per game. Based on name recognition alone, Lillard will likely continue to beat out Maxey in the voting.

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks

Young's excellent season has gone under the radar a bit due to Atlanta's poor record, but their maestro is arguably having a career-best season. Young is scoring 28.2 points per game, averaging a career-best 11.3 assists per contest and is also making a career-best 3.5 threes per game.

While he has been unable to win nearly as many games as Maxey has, his counting stats are mostly more impressive. But the Hawks' poor record should not reflect too much on Young — rather than it being framed as Young failing to uplift his teammates, the situation should be framed as the sixth-year guard not receiving enough help from his supporting cast.

This one will come down to the voters' preference: individual numbers or team success?

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

Mitchell's case is slightly damaged by the fact that he has already missed nine games, but he has been excellent and spearheaded an injury-ridden Cavaliers team whenever he has been available. He is scoring more than Maxey on nearly the same efficiency and handles similar playmaking responsibilities with his running mate Darius Garland missing extended time.

This may be another case where Maxey loses out because of the name recognition of his opposition — but given Maxey has only missed one game all season, a very compelling case could be made that he has had the far more valuable season despite such similar game-by-game resumes.

Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks

Brunson has had an outstanding season, thanks in large part to his scoring efficiency. Brunson and Julius Randle have a unique two-man dynamic going on that allows both to thrive without necessarily stripping either player of opportunities to excel. Brunson is not scoring quite as much as Maxey this season on a game-by-game basis, but he has played in every game this season with roughly the same efficiency.

The case for Maxey is that his counting stats look a bit better than Brunson's. The case for Brunson is that he's shouldering a larger workload on a team that does not also feature the league's reigning Most Valuable Player — and doing it in New York City does not hurt his case, either.

Derrick White, Boston Celtics

White's name recognition value pales in comparison to the rest of the players on this list. But that does not make him any less deserving. White may be the most valuable "role player" in the league right now, as he is the ultimate chameleon, playing excellently in several different roles for the NBA-best Boston Celtics.

White is an exemplary point guard and playmaker. His is shooting over 42 percent from three-point range. He is an All-Defense caliber player on the other end of the floor. He makes big time plays on both ends of the floor in clutch situations. No matter what the Celtics ask him to do, he does it perfectly. A role player of this archetype is rarely even in the conversation for All-Star, but White's cause has gained momentum in recent weeks.

Maxey will likely outlast White — he's averaging almost 10 more points per game than Boston's veteran guard — but this is not a case of the nerds taking it too far. White has actually been that good.

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