This is WAY Better Than We Thought…

This is WAY Better Than We Thought…

This is even better than we expected. Yes, there was plenty of excitement for VJ Edgecom after he was selected with the third overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers, but after a brief stint at NBA Summer League and the executives beginning to settle in, there seems to be even higher hopes for what this young man’s potential could be. I do want to dive into the latest that is coming out from a number of sources here. some high praise coming from a variety of outlets here that I want to highlight for VJ Edgecom and talk a little bit about what his role could look like on this Sixers team for this coming season. So to get right into it here, do want to start off with this article on ESPN which writes the question, this being a poll to a number of NBA executives and media members here saying which rookie other than Flag will prove to be the draft’s best pick. Number one, VJ Edgecomb with 10 votes there. Dylan Harper in second place with six. Also a couple receiving votes. There is Carter Bryant, Yang Hansen, which shout out to him certainly been making his waves in summer league. Trey Johnson in the mix, Nick Clifford, who I absolutely love, and Ace Newell as well, but he writes out with Flag the overwhelming headliner of the 2025 draft class. We we geared this question towards the rest of the group, best pick was left open for interpretation intentionally. The goal was simply to find out which selections rival teams like most. And of course, VJ Edgecom stealing the top spot there. And not just that, we did get this quote from an anonymous Eastern Conference executive saying that VJ Edgecom could be the Sixers second best player by the end of the season. Quote, VJ might be Philly’s second best player by the end of the season. Factoring in Embiid’s uncertain health, he’s that good and will thrive playing in Nick Nurse’s system. And I will say the more that I’ve watched VJ Edgecom, that is something that jumps out to me when you talk about when you think of Nick Nurse as a coach when he was at his best was with these athletic, switchable, versatile wings that could be everywhere on the court. And when you watch his defensive tape, that’s exactly who VJ Edgecom is. He gets his hands everywhere on the floor out there. And I think there’s a bit more polish to his offensive game than I initially gave him credit. The summer league is not the type of setting that I expected him to thrive in, but he ultimately basically did there. And to point out the exact numbers that we’re talking about, and again this was a brief sample size that he only played in two games, but that VJ Edgecom averaged 25.6 points per 36 minutes, which led all rookies in summer leagues. Team exe team execs are right that he has plenty of untapped self-creation and playmaking potential that hinges on him growing as a ball handler and perimeter creator. But the flashes of growth are happening quickly. Now, one of the biggest weaknesses that I discussed with VJ Edge or one of the concerns that I had was the handle there. It is not exactly what I would call a tight handle by NBA standards. Now, with that being said, the dude can still dribble. That this is not a case where we’re talking about him being as stiff out there. There’s just some advanced polish that I would like to see moving forward and totally expected from a kid who’s 19 years old, a oneanddone season at college, and was not asked to do a ton of primary ball handling role with Rob Wright. shout out Philadelphia’s own a guy who would be playing at BYU next year and in the league after that that there’s a lot of ball dominant players on that Baylor team that he simply was not to ask to do a lot of this and you will see a distinct difference in his style of play and impact that he made when you watch some of his tape with the Bahamas with the Bahamas national team there. VJ Edgecom is a dude and I think 60s fans are going to find out about that really quickly. The more that I watch, the more that I dive into things, the more excited I get and it is clear that I am not the only one that is feeling this way. This is high praise that is being thrown around and I do think it’s not always a little bit weird that you got to throw the hashtag next to it when it is these anonymous executives here. But I would be shocked if this is Daryl my kind of blowing things up here. I I’ve kind of my understanding which I do think it is a little bit lame that so much of this is done in anonymous sources. But more or less the push back that I will get from it or when I ask about that question here to other media members and things like that. The response is always well you’re not going to get any answer if you don’t promise them the anonymity there. If you don’t say that these guys are going to remain anonymous, they’re not going to speak to you. And I guess we got to kind of accept that as fact. Now, for VJ specifically, he’s also a guy that talks with quite a bit of confidence himself. And I did want to pull up this quote, which I absolutely love from him here as he was being interviewed. He was asked about expectations for his rookie season. And he said, quote, “I feel like we have a chance to go to the finals. I want to win a championship.” And I do love this coming out. There’s also a little bit of miked up thing that I did see from summer league where he was talking a ton of trash in his first game on the court there. And I love every part about it that there’s some dog in this guy. And when you think about this Sixers team, some of the flaws that have come, yes, we can talk plenty about the roster construction, the lack of power forward impact, there’s plenty the lack of ball handlers you can throw in the mix, age being a factor year after year, but in reality, when you think about one of the biggest concerns with this Sixers team, it is does Joel Embiid have the motor that does, you know, rub off on teammates. So when you think about when Joel Embiid was at his best, it is with others pushing him. And I am more lenient from the stance of I don’t always think the best player needs to be a leader. Sure, in an ideal world, that is absolutely the case. And you can point to examples in either direction here. But I think the way to get the most out of a guy like Joel Embiid, and I think Paul George falls in this category as well, is you got to have the other guys be the motorist there. When you have Tyrese Maxi, when you have Jared McCain, and now you have VJ Edgecom, all of a sudden you’re talking about a ton of just highlevel, highly active players on the floor who play with an incredible motor on both ends there. That is something that I think is infectious to the other members of the basketball team, the other guys on the court. I think VJ is going to more or less spearhead that. The defensive tape does not lie. It pops off the page for the impact that he can make. and we’re talking about that as a floor for a player that one of the defining characteristics I always try and look at or is important to me when sort of evaluating what these players can be. I always like to think of what is the one thing that I know from day one he’s going to be impactful in the NBA for VJ Edgecom. I think that answer is defense and the athleticism is absolutely up to par as well that this is a guy that is going to make his presence felt on both sides of the ball. He’ll be getting under guys skins. He’ll be creating turnovers, wrecking havoc on both sides of the ball. And I saw a pretty cool interview with Scott Drew who was his coach at Baylor there. And he basically talked about that there will be games where VJ Edgecom finishes with the statline with like eight points, three rebounds, two steals, two blocks, yet he’ll be the clear-cut best player on the floor. That’s something that is very encouraging to me because obviously there’s room to grow off that that I do think scoring will continue to grow and he honestly flashed a lot of that in summer league where the spacing was not nearly to the standard of what he will see at the NBA. But he showed some mid-range touch. He showed an ability to get to the rim practically at will there and shot the ball just fine during his time at Baylor if you want to run back to the high school numbers which are always a bit suspect on what exactly the scorekeeping is or who was keeping those numbers here but they look even better when you look at the high school numbers. A guy who’s comfortably over over 40% at the high high level AAU EBL circuit shooting at a high level there against real deal competition. I know there’s a cool clip floating around that I’ve watched a million times to this point of him competing against Justin Edwards. Some really cool stuff there. But the point being that this guy is more seasoned than I think I gave him credit a lot. And I think the day one impact is going to be there. This may have been the home run pick that we were hoping for. And what I mean by that exactly, it is the two timelines thing. I do think VJ Edgecom can make a day one impact. And if this Sixers team can form into a contender, if the best case scenario that you get a semi-healthy Joel Embiid, you get a bit of a bounceback season from Paul George, this team can somewhat stay in form, he can be a guy that has a role from day one. And beyond that, I do really think there is a bright future to this young trio of Jared McCain, Tyrese Maxi, and VJ Edgecom. And for VJ specifically, this guy who I think is going to fill out and be able to guard up his size a decent bit that he is strong despite having this lanky sort of skinny frame to him. I think the more that he grows out into his own body, there’s a guy that could form into more of a wing, whereas now he’s sort of more of a traditional two guard. I think when you watch his game right now, he’s pretty much the archetype of pure shooting guard. I do think there’s a world where if this athleticism continues to pop, if he can just fill out, add a little strength that we can kind of squint and throw him into that wing mo mold. He may not be the full scale of that, but sort of like a Desmond Bane like shooting guard/ small forward. I absolutely can see a pathway to VJ Edgecom being that style of player there. So ultimately there is still a lot to get into here. We’re already seeing VJ in the gym himself. I love that he’s working with the Dembona and that is another guy who I think pushes sort of the mentality of the Sixers team that Bona he has his own things that he needs to work through the foul issues. There is a little bit more polish that he needs to add to his game as well. But that dude’s motor never turns off on the floor. And these are the type of good character, hardworking players that you should be trying to surround the organization with. I think Daryl my done a very nice job of that. So obviously we cannot make any sort of determinations until day one happens on the floor. And if there is anything I don’t want to curse, put the rookie curse into the air, but we’ve seen a million bizarre things that have happened with this franchise. Let’s get to opening day. Let’s get to VJ Edgecom playing with this real team. But I’m starting to get excited about what this kid could really mean in the short and long term for this Sixers team. I’m not saying I’m ready to lock in and agree with all these executives and ESPN reporters saying that he will be the best player in this draft outside of Cooper Flag, but boy does it feel nice to hear some people speaking like that. We’ll ultimately see what will unfold to this point, but it is time to start getting hyped about the VJ Edgecom era in Philadelphia cuz maybe here a bit sooner than I think we ultimately expected. Let me know what you guys think about all this in the comments. Are you drinking the Kool-Aid? Are you all in on the VJ Edgecom experience in the same way that I’m starting to get there? What is your feelings or what is your predictions for what a role could like look like from here from day one? The last point that I’ll make on this and to kind of pull up the depth chart as a little bit of reassurance here, the minutes are there for the taken for VJ Comb that think about it. Think about you don’t know how many games Paul George is going to play. Trendan Wadford, who knows if he can hold down the spot as a power forward there. Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxi each I’m incredibly believe in from a talent standpoint, but we still got to discuss what is the long-term fit. Can these two play together? Edgecomb is a complement to both with the defensive first mindset here and that is the clear pathway to more minutes. If there is one way to earn day one minutes from any NBA coach and certainly Nick Nurse, it is to make an impact on the defensive side of the ball and then you get a bit more leniency on the offensive here on the offensive end there. I think the world is for the taking for VJ Edgecom and I think he is getting well aware of that as well. So we will see how things unfold but do want to hear from you guys in the comments one more time. So, if you have not already, make sure you’re smashing that subscribe button, dropping a like on this video here, dropping your thoughts below. Be back talking to you next time right here on Sixers Digest.

This is WAY Better Than We Thought…

VJ Edgecombe is drawing plenty of praise around the NBA following his impressive showing in summer league. Sean Barnard highlights some notable quotes and lays out what his role could look like on the Sixers this upcoming season.

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Sixers Digest is a YouTube Channel that covers all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors regarding the Philadelphia 76ers. We provide comprehensive coverage on topics such as game highlights, player performances, and in-depth analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and Kyle Lowry, as well as insights from Head Coach Nick Nurse and President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Sixers!

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