How Daryl Morey approached his 1st top-10 pick ever and landed on VJ Edgecombe originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has presided over many an NBA draft night. His approach had to change a bit this year.
The 2025 draft was Morey’s first rodeo with a top-10 pick and the Sixers landed on Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe at No. 3.
“I think we have a pretty detailed process here,” Morey said Wednesday night. “It starts at the high school level and all their years before coming into college — with national teams, with everything. … I think we were seriously considering early in the process about six (players), and then it was down to four. We were deliberating up until the last few days on who we would pick. As we dug in, we felt VJ was by far the best choice there.”
Before Wednesday, Morey’s highest draft pick was Jeremy Lamb at No. 12 in 2012.
“I thought it would be very different,” he said. “I would say 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. I would say the other thing is I really, really don’t like people to know who we’re picking. It’s impossible at three for people to not get a sense. You’re usually down to a few names and people are going to have a rough outline.
“But just to optimize my job, (potential) trades, I think the less public it is, the better. But that’s just not realistic at three. I started to give that up early. … I would say we had to 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 and he absolutely has that. I don’t know what percentage (chance) exactly, but we have a guess. It’s definitely material and we feel good about it.”
The Sixers’ belief in Edgecombe’s upside stems from his blend of outstanding athleticism, self-awareness and diligence.
“Where we can get more confidence is if a player has two things: (One) is they understand they’re not where they need to be,” Morey said. “They understand they’re not pick your All-Star guard in the league. And then they have the work ethic to close that gap. If a player has that, that’s very interesting to us generally.
“We’re fortunate that we could get a guy with talent already playing at a high level at Baylor who also has not only just a hopeful work ethic, but one that you can see if you track back to the Bahamas and you track back pre-Baylor, all the way through. We’re excited about that.”
As far as other options on the table, Rutgers wing Ace Bailey was clearly among the top prospects the Sixers evaluated.
Bailey declined an in-person visit with the Sixers — and all NBA teams, for that matter — and wound up going at No. 5 to the Jazz.
“It was pretty opaque,” Morey said of Bailey’s canceled visit. “I spoke to the agent. So did (general manager Elton Brand), so did (vice president of player personnel Prosper Karangwa), so did a lot of the key folks on our team. He didn’t work out with anybody, so that was just their general plan. I don’t try to judge. They were doing what they thought was best for them, we were doing what was best for us. It had no impact on the decision.”
Morey noted before the draft that he’d focus simply on taking the best player available. Unsurprisingly, he’s also optimistic about Edgecombe’s fit on the Sixers’ roster.
“I really like how things are shaping up,” he said. “I think we’ll have one of the best backcourts in the league, with (Quentin) Grimes, (Tyrese) Maxey, Jared McCain and now VJ. With the way the NBA’s going, I think you saw some of these teams playing dynamic, uptempo with multiple guards that put the defense in jeopardy.
“We do have to have our main guy in the middle. I felt for the players and Coach (Nick) Nurse specifically, trying to put a defense on the floor with Joel (Embiid) out … and obviously, (Andre) Drummond was hurt. (Adem) Bona stepped up late, which was exciting. But if you have a bunch of dynamic guards, it’s hard to make it all work if you don’t have a big in there who’s making things hard on the other team.”
So, how’s Embiid doing after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April?
“I spoke to Joel today,” Morey said. “He’s very engaged, attacking rehab, doing everything he can to be out there. He had a meeting with Dr. (Jonathan L.) Glashow this week. All things, to use a NASA term, are nominal. Things are going well and as expected. We expect that to continue.”
Asked whether Embiid will be ready for training camp, Morey said, “Things are on track to be ready right around there.”
Well before Morey’s tenure in Philadelphia, the Sixers selected Embiid near the top of the 2014 draft.
There’s a new No. 3 pick in town.
“If I was a bad person, I doubt they would’ve picked me,” Edgecombe said in a Zoom press conference. “Or if my character wasn’t likable, I doubt they would’ve picked me. It shows a lot about who they are as people, that they care about more then basketball. They care about how you are as a person also, things that can translate off the court.
“It’s the City of Brotherly Love, man, so I don’t think they want anyone here that doesn’t show love.”
Kurt Helin