Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard VJ Edgecombe, the No. 3 pick in last month’s 2025 NBA draft, has emerged as a major name to watch among this year’s class.
Across 33 games for the Baylor Bears last season, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 15.0 points on .436/.340/.782 shooting splits, 5.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists a night.
In an anonymous poll of 20 NBA front office executives and scouts from Jeremy Woo of ESPN, Edgecombe was projected to eventually be the best non-Cooper Flagg player among this year’s draft class, earning a whopping 10 votes. Edgecombe beat out No. 2 pick Dylan Harper, who was selected by the San Antonio Spurs out of Rutgers. Harper received six votes.
NBA execs and scouts share their thoughts on the incoming rookie class 👀 @JeremyWoo on the full breakdown ⤵️ https://t.co/XVycSApNbB
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 24, 2025
Harper’s new Spurs teammate Carter Bryant, Portland Trail Blazers center Yang Hansen, Washington Wizards guard Tre Johnson, Sacramento Kings guard Nique Clifford, and Atlanta Hawks power forward/center Asa Newell all also earned votes.
“The big winner here was Edgecombe, who came off the board third to the 76ers and underscored his talent earlier this month with an outstanding 28-point performance in his lone game at the Utah summer league event,” Woo writes. “The Baylor product is turning into a dynamic downhill slasher in the backcourt, and many execs and scouts believe he has significant untapped upside operating with the ball in his hands after playing mostly away from it in college.”
An anonymous general manager made a bold prediction to Woo about just how good Edgecombe might become — and soon.
“VJ might be Philly’s second-best player by the end of the season, factoring in [Joel] Embiid’s uncertain health,” a general manager said.
For now, Edgecombe will competing for minutes against incumbent backcourt talents Tyrese Maxey — who could have been an All-Star for a second time this year had he not been hurt for much of the 2024-25 season — and Jared McCain — who could have been in the running for Rookie of the Year honors had he not faced his own health challenges. The 6-foot-3 shooting guard tore his meniscus in his left knee in December.
But for Edgecombe to lap not only McCain and Maxey, but also nine-time All-Star forward Paul George, to emerge as the best player for Philadelphia not named Joel Embiid, would be quite the leap.
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