Ranking the 8 best players who didn't sign rookie extensions 

1. Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers 

Tyrese Maxey shouldn’t be on this list, but the Philadelphia 76ers’ commitment to cap space in the summer of 2024 has him playing out the final year of his rookie deal. While Immanuel Quickley had the best advanced metrics of any player not to sign a rookie-scale extension, Maxey was right behind him and has two crucial advantages over him. 

The first is his age. Quickley will turn 25 in June of 2024, while Maxey won’t turn 23 until Nov. 4, 2023. Considering how close the two were in terms of advanced metrics, it’s always better to bet on the younger guy. The next is the shape of his production. Maxey can reliably generate offense at a near All-Star level. Points per game might be overvalued, but Maxey has been able to shoulder a much heavier offensive load at better efficiency than Quickley. 

Last season, Maxey was one of 18 qualified players to average over 20 (20.3) points per game with an effective field goal percentage of 56 percent (56.8 percent)or greater. That list of 18 is an All-Star game vote starter kit: featuring Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jimmy Butler, to name a few. The only non-elite player in that group was Bojan Bogdanovic, who quietly averaged 21.6 points per game on a 57 percent effective field goal percentage in the frozen wilderness of Detroit basketball. 

With James Harden’s role in Philadelphia being as mysterious as what lies beneath that behemoth of a beard, Maxey is in line to be the Sixers' lead guard. The result should be more points and assists with a slight uptick in turnovers and some efficiency decay. With how effective Maxey has been as a third option, there should be tremendous confidence in his ability to slide right behind 2022-23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid in the pecking order. 

Maxey is not a great defender, but that’s basically his only serious wart at this time. He’s a legitimate scoring threat, and even if his passing isn’t elite, it isn’t a problem. The Sixers better hope their plan of hoarding cap space for 2024 works because they gave Maxey the perfect audition to land a monster contract.