Philadelphia 76ers NBA Draft Media Availability | Daryl Morey | 06.25.25

Philadelphia 76ers NBA Draft Media Availability | Daryl Morey | 06.25.25

appreciate you guys coming uh we’re super excited about VJ uh what he can bring to the team uh brings a dynamic athlete um potential all-star two-way player um really uh really helped his team he’s got all these winning qualities that we think really fit great teammate um his story and what he’s done to get to this point is really unbelievable um and we we think he’s on a great trajectory to take where he’s come from and continue to improve through through Baylor all the way through a very long and very promising NBA career and we’re excited it’s here at the 76ers hold on one second was there a specific you know turning point that kind of pushed uh the pendulum in in V VJ’s direction I hate to invoke the word but I mean we we we have a pretty detailed process here um and you know I think it starts at uh the high school level and all the pre-work before the in the years prior to their coming into college uh with national teams with with everything um and that process continued through this year um no i mean I think we were seriously considering um pretty much you know early in the process it was about six and it was down to four and then we were uh deliberating up until the last uh few days uh down to who we would pick and uh as we dug in we felt like VJ was by far the best best choice there darl there was some reporting that when he worked out for you that he was nervous how did you see him when he worked out and how much stock do you put in those workouts anyway I put uh 0.0% into work i really do i would say I do think uh I do think the you know I do like having dinner with the guys i I do like getting to know them better you know obviously it’s it’s different reading all the reports that our scouts file and and coaches give us and everything uh and then meeting someone i think that is beneficial uh I think the encore stuff is um I guess it’s nice to make sure they’re they’re not hiding an injury or something i don’t know like I it’s it’s very hard for me to figure out how you get anything out of a a session um you know if you could put them in a competitive setting that might be something but but that’s not something that happens at high picks so not a big part of the process but uh we did love having him in and having dinner with them and things like that one second so we’re gonna go Murphy then Adam and then we’ll get to Mike Dan john we do have to get him back go ahead D darl there there’s years where you know the draft kind of falls off a cliff after number one overall number two sometimes doesn’t even get the number one um but do you feel fortunate to to kind of have had the number three pick in a year where fortunate I mean people were making fun of me because I think they saw someone freeze a picture of the video where Elton and Nick are just happy and I’m just like collapsed and like I don’t even know what I was feeling cuz it was a rough year rough year for the fans primarily rough year for coach nurse ownership the players and uh if we would have left that without like a guy who could be a potential all-star for us that was going to be really tough and we even got some good fortune to move a little higher so yeah I would say feel very fortunate fortunate in many ways i mean you’re not necessarily thinking floor at number three but he he does seem to have a combination of of ceiling and kind of Yeah you can project him you know bare minimum agree with that completely yeah yeah that uh he has a nice combination of both i I will I will ask our fan base i mean look I mean early early returns can get magnified i I do think it’s hard for this is a man’s league and you know he’s strong and physical so I think he’ll adjust quicker than most draft picks but they take a little time sometimes and uh but we we feel we’re very excited about him so this is another investment for you guys in a young guard I guess just how do you see VJ fitting with Tyrese and Jared and Quentyn if you can bring him back yeah so I I really like I mean how things are shaping up i mean I think we’ll have one of the best back courts uh in the league um you know with with Grimes and Maxi and and Jared McCain and and now VJ so I do think like the way the NBA is going I think um I think you saw some of these teams playing dynamic uh uptempo with multiple guards that put the defense in jeopardy and you know we do have to have our we do have to have our main guy in the middle uh I I felt for the players and coach Nurse specifically last year trying to put a a defense on the floor with with Joel out and uh you know obviously Drummond was hurt uh so we didn’t you know Bona stepped up late which was exciting uh but it’s very hard to if you have like a bunch of dynamic guards it’s hard to make it all work if you don’t have a you know a big in there who’s making things hard on the other team uh related to that what how is Joe doing What’s what’s the latest on him we haven’t heard since he had surgery in April and do you think he’ll be ready for camp And also the other guys Paul George notably and I guess Tyrese Joel sure medical update time uh spoke to Joelle uh today uh he’s very engaged attacking rehab doing everything can to be out there uh he had a meeting with Dr glacia this week uh all things uh to use the NASA term nominal all you know things are going well and expected and you know we expect uh you know that to continue so ready for camp yeah I mean things are on track to uh to be ready right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right right around there so and a quick followup um your thoughts on why were you told ace Bailey didn’t want to work out for you and your thoughts on when a player doesn’t want to work out period it was pretty opaque I mean I spoke to the agents so did uh so did Elton so did Prosper so did a lot of the key folks on our staff Um you know he didn’t really he didn’t work out with anybody so that was just their plan so it was just their general plan and uh you know I don’t I don’t try to judge they were doing what they thought was best for them we were doing what’s best for us and we it had no impact in the decision so uh you already have obviously Tyrese in the fold you have um last year you drafted Jared and Dem who all kind of have that you know kind of mature improvement mindset seems like VJ also fits into that mold is that something that is important to you Is that something that you valued when you evaluated him Yeah I think that’s you know above and beyond what you can see on the floor the the thing we spend a lot of time on and I will say it’s very hard to forecast with 18 year olds 19 year olds 20-year-olds we don’t like think we have some crystal ball but where we do can where we can get more confidence that a player has two things which is they understand that they’re not where they need to be they understand they’re not yet you know pick your all-star guard in the league uh and then they have the work ethic to close that gap if if a player has that that that’s very interesting to us generally uh and yes we’ve been fortunate that you can get a guy with talent already playing at a high level at Baylor and then also has just not only just a hopeful work ethic but when you can see if you track back to the Bahamas uh and you track back through his you know pre-Baylor period all the way through um I think you know we’re excited about that what kind of opinion did Tyrese have with VJ’s work out here And what kind of input did Nick Nurse have as far as VJ and what he can do Man Nick Nick is I’ll get to Tyrese but Nick’s been uh unbelievable in this process uh he’s a coach who’s like in every meeting sitting through our hours of meetings uh he he’s he’s run teams when he you know he came up and and had to work his way to the NBA harder than most guys in terms of running teams in Iowa running teams overseas and so he adds such a great perspective because he has not just the coach’s eye but he also has run teams so he gets he gets that you want to care about not just what you’re saying now but what they can become and things like that so Nick’s been an un great partner uh I would say it was awesome all three of our key guys wanted to come to the workout scheduling wise it worked out for Tyrese uh and not the other guys but Tyrese met with him for quite a while um just fitwise I think the good thing is Tyrese is high basketball Q they he understands that like those two complement each other very well um in terms of like BJ is going to be able to guard multiple positions um probably take the toughest assignment maybe not day one but over in his career and uh and then Tyrese and him are really play off well play off of each other well so a lot’s been made outside of Cooper Flag of the deficiencies in some of these other higherend picks when you look at a guy like VJ Edgecomb what really stood out to you in terms of how he can really exceed expectations and exceed in these areas that maybe are not yet strengths but one day could be um yeah I think uh wow Oh that was a good way to get into what what what what is he good at right now I would say um on the offensive side and these are things he knows like being able to shoot off the move um his his spot up and and and shots that are sort of generated for him he makes at a high rate uh shoot off the move i think I was actually um you know speaking with uh Eric Gordon uh who took this leap he came into the league athletic uh wasn’t a good finisher vj isn’t quite there yet and recognizes it and I think someone like Eric who took a big leap in finishing by working on his craft his footwork his timing his takeoff points he really improved that in the sort of the early parts of his career um and so that’s another just off the two off the top of my head but he has like that base athleticism physical tools and the work ethic that you see he could grow into all these things obviously you’ll have to do it but yes hold on one second so you’re you’re obviously not used to picking so high in the draft what was different about that process and what was the approach in terms of sorting through the options And I mean I found it to be very different I would say um you have much more visibility on who might be there which I’ve never had usually we’re running Sims we didn’t have to do that this time um I would say the other thing is I really really don’t like people to know who we’re picking so it’s impossible at three for people not to get a sense you’re usually down to a few names and people are going to have a rough outline of but I I you know just to optimize my job trades I think the more the more under the you know the less public it is the better but that’s just not realistic at three and I sort of had to give that up early so that was probably the two um I would say we had to like retune things to upside i do think you don’t pick high very often so you want to take guys who have all-star capability um he absolutely has that i don’t know what percentage exactly but we have a guess but it’s you know it’s definitely material and we feel good about it so Darl what qualities as a player and as a person did you feel that VJ embodied that you guys look for as a front office and as a scouting department Yeah I’m excited for everyone to meet him i’m excited for you to meet him um it’s a little hard to describe he’s sort of like he’s a very mature you know for his age for being under 20 he carries himself like he’s already been in the league which I don’t think is easy um so that’s one two I think you saw it like the love and his family there even if you guys are watching the telecast i think that obviously a lot of people have that but I think you know the admiration from his brother um you know I think yeah I’m just excited to get to know him he has a real good head on his shoulders and both on the court basketball IQ wise but also just life IQ yeah for lack of a better term it was reported that Tyrese had involvement in his in his workout did where Joel or Paul consulted with about him at all I answered that earlier yeah if that’s okay yeah last question from anyone john Clark said yeah I don’t want to say but it was down to four yeah it was down to four yep thank you Darl thanks guys appreciate it thanks thanks for coming guys thanks

Daryl Morey speaks to the media following Philadelphia’s selection of VJ Edgecombe at third overall in the 2025 NBA Draft.