After a tumultuous season riddled with injuries, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Baylor shooting guard V.J. Edgecombe with the third overall pick at the 2025 NBA Draft.
This pick almost went to the Oklahoma City Thunder as part of a 2020 trade that sent Danny Green to the Sixers for Al Horford, but it had top six protection, which allowed Philly to retain it.
Injuries to key players like Paul George and Joel Embiid contributed to the Sixers finishing 13th in the NBA Eastern Conference last season. Edgecombe may be a long-term project but it’s one that the Sixers hope willl pay dividends for their backcourt, which already includes All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey.
Who is V.J. Edgecombe?
V.J. Edgecombe hails from the town of Bimini in the Bahamas and he went to Long Island Lutheran High School from 2020-2024.
In High School, Edgecombe was NYS Gatorade Player of the Year for two consecutive years from 2023 to 2024, while also being Allen Iverson Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American in 2024.
Edgecombe was also a team player who helped Lutheran reach No. 2 in the ESPN high school basketball rankings. His skills caught the eye of the Bahamas national team and he played on the Bahamas Olympic Qualifier team in 2024.
Edgecombe’s Brief College Career was Solid
Edgecombe hit the ground running as a college freshman with the Baylor Bears. As a 19-year-old freshman he was both the preseason and postseason Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and a Jerry West Award finalist which is given annually to the best shooting guard in college basketball.
V.J. averaged 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while adding 20 blocks for Baylor last season. He also made the All-Big 12 Second Team, the Big 12 All-Freshman Team, and AP All-Big 12 Second Team.
Baylor were knocked out in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament by perennial powerhouse Duke, but it wasn’t because of their star guard. Against Duke in the Round of 32, Edgecombe put up 16 points and pulled down six rebounds.
What do Players/Scouts Say?
Recently, NBA All-Star and Edgecombe’s new Sixers teammate Paul George went on “Podcast P with Paul George” where he praised Edgecombe’s play for the Bahamas. Here is part of what the nine-time NBA All-Star had to say.
Watching him and they said how young he was, he’s competing against top talent, and he’s dunking on them, blowing by them, he was making an impact. He was an impactful player. It wasn’t about what he was shooting like you make shots and you miss shots. It was more about the impact that he had that was impressive for a guy at that age…To me, I think he’s kind of like Jimmy Butler…Just a dog, plays hard, plays both ends, and just has that toughness about him. Want to win it all. – 76ers All-Star Paul George
George doesn’t get too far into the weeds when discusssing the small sample that he saw of Edgecombe’s game. Instead, he points to Edgecombe’s competitiveness and toughness as the qualities that stood out the most to him about the soon-to-be 20-year-old guard.
This scouting report from Yahoo Sports describes Edgecombe as an “explosive, high motor wing”, who is “fearless” when “slashing” or driving to the hoop. The report goes on to say that Edgecombe uses his great athleticism to blow by defenders, jump passing lanes to “spark transition chances”, and come “out of nowhere for violent blocks.”
That describes an exciting player but surely there are things he needs to improve as well.
The scouting report says Edgecombe has three main concerns: Shot creation, defensive consistency and pull-up shooting.
The concerns over shot creation refer to Edgecombe lacking the ball-handling skills and footwork to make a shot, whether it be a layup or a jumper.
The scouting report also cites that Edgecombe sometimes loses focus when defending off-the-ball, which exposes his lack of length with a height of 6-foot-5 and a wingspan of 6-foot-7.5.
Lastly, the concerns over his pull-up shooting refer to that Edgecombe’s jump shot “looks fluid off the catch” and “rigid off the dribble.” Also, he made only 25% of his dribble jumper attempts last season in the NCAA.
In summary, Edgecombe needs to work on his off-the-ball defending, his pull-up shooting, ball-handling skills and footwork to become a great NBA player. However, he is already an elite athlete who gives 100 percent effort defensively and offensively, which willl go a long way on a team that has two aging superstars in Embiid and George signed to deals that expire in 2029 and 2028 respectively.
