What They Won’t Tell You About The Philadelphia 76ers

What They Won’t Tell You About The Philadelphia 76ers

the 2025 NBA season proved that it’s not always sunny in Philadelphia Despite signing all-star wing Paul George to form a formidable big three with rolling beat and Tyresese Maxi injuries and underperformance caused the 76ers to lose 23 more games than the previous season And they even failed to make the NBA play tournament Because of this people are completely counting out the 76ers and have major questions about Embiid MPG’s availability However what they don’t tell you is that this team has a pretty high floor and an even brighter future given their combination of veterans and the amount of young talents they’ve accumulated over the past few years The most recent of their young additions is VJ Edgeome out of Baylor A 6’5 sensational athlete with a 67 and a half wingspan who’s an outstanding defender and has the potential to be a true star in the NBA The first thing that jumps off the page for Edgecomb is his affformentioned athleticism as this is a player with great lateral quickness who runs the floor exceptionally well has great burst and explosiveness to beat his man in the half court and operate well in transition and is an above the rim finisher with ferocious plays that will make you fall out of your seat This god-given athleticism is obviously something you can’t teach And when you pair that with his solid handle and shotmaking ability you see the path to him growing as a shot creator at the next level What’s also commandable about Edgecomb is how he better positions his team on the floor due to his activity on both ends being someone who actively moves off the ball and can operate rather quickly off the catch Whether it be running with his teammates or breaking a wave to be found for slams in transition or just tracking for putbacks from offensive rebounds Edgecom appears to be an adaptable player who also showed great value as a spot-up shooter And at a free throw percentage of 78% which is deemed to be a great predictor of success as a shooter at the next level there’s no reason to believe that he can’t develop as more than respectable shooter at the next level Additionally he’s a rather unselfish player who can make the extra pass play well in a twoman game with bigs and while he won’t be your primary creator he is someone you can trust to make plays on the ball Defensively Edgecomb is an absolute game wrecker who can be deployed anywhere He can be your point of attack defender who has sensational ball skills a help defender who seemingly gets blocks A much bigger players given how great his timing and positioning are is a threat in passing lines That freakish athleticism is on full display Given the insane amount of ground that he can cover making recoveries to the perimeter and getting demoralizing chase down blocks Given his versatility on that end he has a high floor And what makes matters even better is that the stops he makes creates even more offensive opportunities for his teammates and helps them excel in transition Before we continue be sure to leave a like on this video as that greatly supports the channel and sub for more content like this The problem with Edgecomb at this time is that he at times looks like a superhero who just got their powers accidentally slicing a bus in half and sticking to the ceiling of his high school home room until the end of the day Despite being one of if not the best athletes on the floor at any given point and being projected to be a great attacker of the rim at the NBA level given how explosive he is the lack of composure and decision-making in the half court have held him back as a finisher at the collegiate level Simply put he struggles with his left hand and struggles with layups in the half court due to taking off too far and looking out of control without a strike driving angle to the basket It also doesn’t help that he still has ways to go as a creator as improving upon his handle will help him gain even more separation when he rises up for a jumper and create even more avenues for him to score The fortunate part about this is that with him being in Philly he doesn’t have to rush in order to reach his full potential given the talent surrounding him and he can be a good complimentary piece off the bat Joining him in that younger core players are Jared McCain Tyresese Maxi and if brought back in free agency a pleasant surprise for the team in Quinn and Grimes Starting off with Jared McCain this was a player I was really high on out of Duke and his fit with the 76ers specifically for his potential as a movement shooter and his ability to serve as a great catch-oot threat as one of the best shooters of the 2024 NBA draft I didn’t expect him to get a crazy amount of minutes heading into the season but given the injuries this team suffered McCain was given more opportunity and ran with it When he was healthy he genuinely looked like a rookie of the year candidate putting up 15 points per game on 46% from the field 38% from three on six attempts a game He obviously showed off his three-point prowess and hitting 40% of his above the break threes and he also hit 44% of his catch and shoot attempts further demonstrating his adaptability on the floor However what struck me most about his play is how comfortable his shot creation ability actually was in his shortened rookie season being able to put the ball on the floor and get by defenders with his crafty handle and use of pivots finish inside and even create some separation on his jumpers He’s no elite finisher by any means at this point but the confidence he has as a pull-up shooter and as an offball threat and could greatly help this team if the three highest players of this team are healthy Because of injuries to both Tyresce Maxi and Jared McCain could not play great deal minutes together But let’s not forget that Maxi is only 24 years of age at the time of this recording and is still coming off a season where he averaged 26 points per game and two seasons ago was an NBA all-star who also won the NBA’s most improved player award Max’s career arc is incredibly strange given the constant changes that continue around him He was there for the Ben Simmons hold out James Harden calling Daryl my a liar in China and essentially asking out and Joel Embiid missing a majority of the 2024 and 2025 seasons due to injury Regardless he’s improved each season and is one of the better guards in the league Maxi’s combination of speed explosiveness ball handling and excellent body control are the reasons why he’s so effective in the half court and transition and he’s a nightmare to guard given how excellent he is operating off the catch and how he’s one of the best shooters in the league The Sixers probably haven’t won as much as you’d like without Joel Embiid in the lineup and with Maxi on the floor but Maxi has played an all-star level in those games and didn’t have the luxury of having other creators and offensive threats beside him There is then the wild card of Quinn Grimes a player they lucked into with the Caleb Martin trade who averaged 22 points on 494076 splits in a Sixers uniform and was otherwise a bright spot in a disastrous season Grimes just turned 25 years of age but the big hurdle is that he’s a restricted free agent and his cap reportedly wants $25 million a season The Sixers obviously can’t do that and pretty much have the mid-level exceptions to offer which is around $14.1 million That’s a stark valuation difference There’s a chance that a team like the Brooklyn Nets with cap space could make a splash for him and any potential return of Primes to this team means that Gershon Yabuselli will be out the door this summer which obviously sucks A signing trade is awfully complicated given the team’s cap situation under the new CVA So don’t necessarily count on one happening Lastly we need to talk about the elephants in the room and Paul George and Joel Embiid I went into full detail about this in my most disappointing teams for the 2025 NBA season video but in that I was speaking about how Paul George is a complete shell of his former self in Philly which was again only last season He averaged the lowest points per game of his career at 16 and just had a 54.3% true shooting PG is also 35 years of age and reportedly needed paining injections just to playing games this past season but his age and health don’t absolve the Sixers of his albatross of a contract While his AllNBA days are behind him I do think that he can still be one of the better wings in the league when healthy and still be that tertiary creator and catch and shoot threat next to Joel Embiid and Dyres Maxi And speaking of Jojo this was a whirlwind of a season from start to finish for him as lingering knee issues over the last two seasons compromises play and time on the court But on the more optimistic side he is projected to be back before training camp It would be extremely unwise for this team’s rushing back given his injury history and given the fact that he’s a much larger big but I’m not even down Allen Embiid as others are heading into 2026 This is the 2023 NBA MVP we’re talking about and is still a top 10 player if not top five player when fully healthy However even at just 70% he’s still a top five elite big man in the game and is still a dominant force on both ends of the floor That gives you a pretty high ceiling in the Eastern Conference Overall I see Philly’s floor next season as a playing team probably a 748 seed in the East This is obviously assuming the unfortunate that injuries continue to plague their season but the younger guys step up for them However there is an optimistic side where again in the Eastern Conference where all of the Celtics Bucks and Pacers are banged up 70% of Joel Embiid 70% of Paul George and the younger guys on this roster perform well enough to get a top five se in the conference and remain a very competitive team in the East They’re obviously not the favorites in the Eastern Conference given the Knicks and Cavs this past season performed exceptionally well will have that continuity and have superior rosters to Philly But don’t sleep on Nick Nurse and the Philadelphia 76ers Guys let me know down below in the comments section your expectations for VJO in his rookie season and the path to stardom for him in the NBA Do you see him as a future NBA all-star or do you think he’s going to be more limited in terms of a combo guard in this league Also let me know what you feel to be the ceiling of the 76ers next season assuming that Joel Embiid and Paul George are healthy And also if you like the 76ers check out this video on how Tyrese Maxi completely dominates NBA defenses Hope to see you all in the next one Be sure to like and subscribe and see you in the next one

Most people are out on the Philadelphia 76ers heading into next season, but with them adding VJ Edgecombe to a younger core of Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and even Quinten Grimes, the team will be competitive in the Eastern Conference.