Are the Sixers OUT on Ace Bailey? Inside the Draft Dilemma

Are the Sixers OUT on Ace Bailey? Inside the Draft Dilemma

jonathan Gavone over at Draft Express in his mock draft for the first time moved Ace Bailey lower than the number three pick the Philadelphia 76ers he had them taking VJ Edgecomb so with Bailey in the draft community it’s been kind of a topic all year is he actually the third best prospect and then Philly moves up and it becomes an even bigger conversation and now a week out it does seem like VJ Edgecomb is the favorite for that pick there edgecomb a freshman wing out of Baylor now he’s a guy that I think people were hoping to see it like five six seven right at this point moving up to number three what do you like about Edgecomb and what do you think about the Sixers possibly favoring him over Ace Bailey he fits so well with what the Sixers want out of that position uh I mean just a a wildly talented defender who can guard uh switch a bunch through multiple positions on the wing and I think the athleticism pops obviously that’s one of the main things that you talk about when it comes to VJ Edgecomb but there’s always that like promise of more and I think I think when it comes to what his role could be in Philly uh there’s a world in which like he can come along slowly and figure out the offensive creation part because you have Maxi because you have Jared McCain Embiid if he’s fully healthy Paul George right uh because you have these other guys who can create their own shot who can be offensive hubs for you it allows VJ to kind of like come along slowly figure out things attack closeouts which he’s really good at uh use that athleticism in transition and then figure out the offensive creation part as he goes uh which I think is is the most intriguing part here with Ace i’m I’m curious to to get your opinion on this like does the character stuff is that like a a situation of him being the issue or teams maybe wanting something out of him to compensate for some of the issues that he had throughout the year at Ruckers does that make sense i think I think it’s a little bit of both because so like with VJ Edgecomb just to kind of juxtapose it against that VJ Edgecomb is the type of guy that he’s willing to take a back seat he’s willing to play different roles for the Bahamas national team he ran more point for Baylor last year he was more of a three and D guy and certain competitions of high school he was more of the go-to option so he’s taken on different roles and happily done it and done his best in those roles it’s not like his effort ever wavered at Baylor he’s flying around for rebounds playing hard like the dude is is really going to be a good role player and as you spot on said has a chance to still be a star so VJ Edcom like in the context of Philly I think checks the helps in the shortterm box and check and could help a lot in the long term box ace Bailey with him those those you know character or personality concerns i think you know an executive said to me over the weekend that Ace Bailey is a good kid they worry about some of the influences around him with decisions the the lack of workouts that he’s been doing the mindset and approach who’s in his ear about who he is and who what his expectations should be early in his career but some of that is also driven by Ace Baileyy’s own choices he chooses his agent he chooses who he spends his time around and with Ace Bailey he very much does see himself as a future superstar now maybe he is and if you’re a team that believes that Ace Bailey is a future superstar I think you would view that vision he has for himself as a good thing because a lot of times in life to accomplish something you have to have the vision you have to have the goal you have to know what you’re chasing instead of wandering around aimlessly so he has this vision but if your if your vision is aligned with him that’s a good thing if it’s not aligned with him well that’s where you get into like a Kaminga type of situation where Steve Kerr is like “We want him to be Shawn Marion.” And Jonathan Kaminga is like “No Shawn Marian i want to be the guy not one of the guys.” And so that’s where like when Philadelphia people talk about well he shot 39% on catch and shoot threes if he takes more of those and less bad shots he could be a great role player if he puts more time into his defense and all that’s like no ace Bailey wants to be the guy generating shots taking those mid-range pull-ups taking those extremely difficult shots that he can make around 39 38 39% of the time he’s not the most efficient player at those so I look I I think I’ve I’ve been burned with you know intel on guys like Anthony Edwards doesn’t care about basketball right and look how that turned out and look how that turns out so I don’t value that as much as I just have my concerns about Ace Bailey the basketball player i’m not sure like people compare him to Michael Porter Jr Michael Porter Jr had a flamethrower jump shot in high school michael Porter Jr was an elite shooter since he got out of the womb ace Bailey is inefficient he is he was shooting around 50 60% from the free throw line earlier in the year he’s always been very streaky even on open shots not just the heavily contested shots that he takes up and down on defense you know passing vision is not great so to me I get the swing on Ace Bailey if you’re the team that can afford to to take that swing if you’re the Sixers at number three I think it makes all the sense in the world to take VJ Edgecom there or trade down from that number three spot and take whoever it is at number five or six or seven wherever it is that you end up trading down to now with with Edgecomb we got one mailbag question that I think is interesting from Three Stings and he asked “Is Philly’s interest in VJ Edgecom smoke to make Charlotte trade up?” That’s interesting because Edgecomb has been connected to the Hornets throughout this whole process so yeah as do you think like this is like smokeokescreen season is there a chance here that this is now leaking out from the Sixers cuz they just want their intentions are to move down and just get keep getting assets and assets and assets moving down multiple times you know what’s funny you could you could kind of go both ways with this because both ways feel like Daryl my type moves right one uh VJ Edgecom kind of fits the build of what kind of player Mory likes generally can do a bunch of everything uh really really great two-way guy right uh and so from that perspective you can understand why the Sixers want to make this pick the other side it’s Mory also wants to get the best bang for his buck when it comes to trades so that also makes sense to to the Hornets part of this it’s like he also fits extremely well with Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller and if they like to keep Williams at the center spot like he kind of rounds out that starting unit in a really good way um he could he you could make the argument for VJ Edgecomb basically in my opinion honestly from two all the way to you know wherever you want to throw him uh now I don’t know if if they the Spurs would actually go ahead and pick VJ Edgecom at two i just think he’d be a really good fit for what they do um I don’t know i I’m not sure if Mory is going to do it though i think he would rather just pick at three and roll with it from there i do like the idea of them trading down further though and getting more assets so if the Pelicans or the Wizards are really interested in trying to get VJ or Ace then from that perspective you might be able to get a you know from the Nets maybe a Cam Johnson and other stuff uh maybe from the Pelicans if you’re looking I don’t know like if are the Pelicans willing to trade Trey Murphy to be able to get up to to number three i don’t know i feel like that’s probably too much um but that these are the type of things that you’re thinking about at this point if you’re moving down from three to seven or eight or whatever yeah i mean I I I think that the trade down is so fascinating because so I wrote a column on Yahoo Sports today about kind of the history of top three tradeowns and the last 45 years there’s only been 10 teams that have traded down from a top three pick within the lottery so that includes you know number one for number three in 1980 the Joe Barry Carol Kevin McCale and Robert Parish trade between the Selix and the Warriors it includes Tatum and Faults it includes Luca and Trey there’s a lot of like of the most the biggest most pivotal trades in NBA history have been these trade downs from the top three down to like number five or number six or number seven or even within the top three so I think for Philadelphia at three and for San Antonio at two and even Charlotte at number four I I think like really th those three teams consecutively all have a lot of incentive to trade down now what’s the price to move up i mean like a week ago on my pod Tom Habstro mentioned well what if the Jazz offered five and Larry Markin for number two or like like as you kind of just said with Trey Murphy and number seven from the Pelicans and number 23 which they just got from the Pacers what if that were a package offered for number two would the Spurs think about that like would they I think you at least take a meeting two to seven is a big drop but if you’re also getting Trey Murphy who’s young and also getting number 23 maybe like you could package 14 and 23 to move back up into the top 10 again i don’t know i’m just spitballing right i I think like all of these conversations and ideas are being thrown around front offices right now and it’s going to happen until draft night it’s just got that’s the way it’s going to go there might be surprises

Jonathan Givony’s latest mock draft shook up the top of the board — with VJ Edgecombe now projected at No. 3 to the Philadelphia 76ers over Ace Bailey. Kevin O’Connor and Esfandiar Baraheni break down what makes Edgecombe such a strong fit, the concerns around Bailey, and what Philly might do with that pick.

🗣️ Should the Sixers take Edgecombe at No. 3, trade down, or gamble on Ace Bailey?

0:00 – Edgecombe vs. Bailey: Philly’s Big Decision
1:40 – Why VJ Fits the Sixers (and Concerns About Ace)
4:45 – Can Ace Bailey Still Be a Star?
6:20 – Should the Sixers Trade Down from No. 3?
8:00 – Historic Top-3 Draft Trades & What Could Happen Next

📌MORE From The Kevin O’Connor Show:

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