Tyrese Maxey agrees to 5-year, $204 million contract with 76ers

Former Kentucky standouts Jamal Murray ($209M), Immanuel Quickley ($175M), Bam Adebayo ($166M) and Malik Monk ($78M) combined for $628 million in total contracts to open free agency this offseason. Now, Tyrese Maxey has agreed to a five-year maximum extension worth $204 million to stay in Philadelphia, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

That brings the total to $832 million for former Wildcats in a 10-day stretch.

Maxey’s max contract comes following a breakout season with the 76ers where he emerged as a go-to star alongside Joel Embiid, averaging a career-high 25.9 points per contest en route to his first All-Star appearance and NBA Most Improved Player honors.

Maxey, Murray, Quickley and Adebayo join Karl-Anthony Towns ($220M), Devin Booker ($220M), Anthony Davis ($190M), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($180M), De’Aaron Fox ($163M), Tyler Herro ($120M) and Julius Randle ($117M) on $115M-plus multi-year contracts in the NBA — 11 players from Kentucky hitting that total with four clearing the $200M mark.

Maxey’s deal is the second high-dollar contract Philadelphia has handed out in a matter of hours, joining the four-year, $212 million agreement made with Paul George in the middle of the night early Monday morning. That gives the 76ers a long-term core of Maxey, George and Embiid on multi-year deals, putting them in contender status in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future.

The former Wildcat was the No. 21 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, steadily improving since his rookie campaign in 2020-21. He averaged 8.0 points per contest in year one, followed by 17.5 in year two and 20.3 in year three before his rise to superstardom in year four. Philadelphia needed Maxey to explode following James Harden’s departure to the Los Angeles Clippers and their trust in the Dallas, Texas native paid off.

Nine figures at 23 years old? Not too shabby.