Lowe -- Tyrese Maxey's new role, LaMelo's next step and the genius of Draymond - ESPN

This week's eight things I liked and disliked include Tyrese Maxey's All-Star ascension on the revamped Philadelphia 76ers, LaMelo Ball's first steps at becoming a half-court floor general and the genius of Draymond Green.

Jump to Lowe's Things:
Maxey's All-Star ascension | 'OK' Nurkic not enough
LaMelo's next step | The genius of Draymond
Why Utah struggles on D | Ausar's all-around game |
Sengun's vision | Johnson making things happen

Every few weeks, one security guard at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia reminds Maxey of the unlikely series of events that led Maxey to the 76ers — a rare stroke of strange luck for a franchise that has suffered some of the weirdest NBA melodramas: «Shout out Mike Muscala!» the guard chants, according to Maxey.

It is an inside joke, Sixers lore — code that identifies a hardcore fan. The Sixers selected Maxey with the 21st pick in the 2020 NBA draft — a pick that belonged to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Sixers acquired it in 2016, traded it away, and then got it back in the deal that sent Markelle Fultz to the Orlando Magic. It contained a twist: Philadelphia would receive it only if it fell 21st or later; otherwise, the Thunder would send two second-rounders.

It came down to the wire in the Orlando, Florida, bubble. Muscala hit two 3s in the final 35 seconds of the Thunder's second-to-last game to help their deep reserves complete a comeback that meant nothing to that specific Thunder team and everything to these current Sixers. With that win, the Thunder pick was capped at No. 21.

Four years later, Maxey's ascension toward his first All-Star nod has the Sixers well positioned to pivot away from a spasm of deals that saw Ben Simmons and then James Harden come and go as would-be