After a season of his larger-than-life personality and plays, it’s hard to imagine the Philadelphia 76ers without VJ Edgecombe now.
The No. 3 overall pick from the 2025 NBA Draft’s freshman season is behind him, and what a year it was. At just 20 years old, Edgecombe made his presence known in the league, starting with his very first game back on Oct. 22, 2025, when the Sixers opened their season with a visit to TD Garden and the Boston Celtics. Feels like a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it? Let me refresh your memory.
As the 2025-26 regular season was getting underway, the Sixers were trying to get Joel Embiid back to game speed (he played in the opener, but only for 20 lackluster minutes) and had Paul George sidelined for recovery from his summer knee surgery. Nick Nurse slotted Edgecombe in the starting lineup right off the bat, giving him the opportunity over returning players such as Quentin Grimes. Expectations and excitement for the rookie’s debut were high, with his drafting to the Sixers being the most positive thing the team had really experienced in over a year.
He not only met those expectations, but surpassed them. Edgecombe put up 34 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in his first NBA contest, ultimately sinking two free throws near the end of regulation to secure the Sixers’ 117-116 victory. He shot 13-for-26 from the floor and 5-for-13 from long range while displaying fundamental skills and game awareness well beyond his years.
Right from the jump, we were given a glimpse into the things that would make Edgecombe shine throughout his first season — fearlessness, agility, intelligence, aggression, clutch gene, fundamental skill and more. He has proven himself to not only be an incredible athlete to say the very least, but one that is not only an offensive power but is a solid defender, active rebounder and all-around baller.
Fast forward to now, and Edgecombe has been named First Team All-Rookie after 75 games (all starting) averaging 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals for the Sixers. He shot 43.8% from the floor and 35.4% from long range (on a 5.6 attempts-per-game clip).
His numbers did dip during the playoffs — some more than others — but a major plus is that Edgecombe was able to rack up 406 minutes of postseason experience in his debut year. Speaking of minutes, the rookie ended up playing 2,623 minutes this regular season, the second-most minutes by a Sixer (behind backcourt-mate Tyrese Maxey with 2,661) and the 11th-most minutes of any player in the association for 2025-26. Not bad for a 20-year-old that came into the year in college condition, which is a world of difference from NBA-level.
OK, so he had a great rookie season, that much is clear. But now it’s time to look ahead and talk about what leaps Edgecombe can take for his sophomore year to build upon the good he has already started.
The main aspect of his game that I think provides the biggest room for improvement is Edgecombe’s on-ball scoring, namely his off-the-dribble pull-up game. We all know he is able to absolutely fly through defenses for an emphatic slam or even just to lay-it in with a nice touch. However, at times throughout his rookie season and especially in the playoffs, the Bahamian’s pull-up shooting could be a bit inconsistent and suffered noticeably the longer he had the ball or the more he dribbled before pulling up.
The effect was at its most significant during the postseason from long range, from whence Edgecombe shot just 29.2%. Looking deeper into that number, you’ll see he actually had shot 34.6% (18-for-52) from behind the arc on catch-and-shoots, but hit just 15.8% (3-for-19) on pull-ups. He sank 34.0% from three when he had the ball for under two seconds, but that dropped to just 18.2% when he had the ball for 2-6 seconds — and down further to 12.5% when he had the ball longer than 6 seconds.
The discrepancies were a bit less evident statistically during the regular season, but existed nonetheless. The reason to focus so specifically on his ability to dribble into pulling-up is that it is the type of skill that could provide a massive ceiling of improvement for a player with the existing skillset of Edgecombe.
Think of the amount of times that he and/or Maxey were able to poke the ball away on defense and get out ahead in transition. Of course, if you can just beat everyone down the court for a dunk or lay-in, that’s great… but if Edgecombe can improve his ability to dribble down the court and hit the brakes before the arc to pull up from there for three points instead of two, those extra points could add up quick.
Plus, him developing that pull-up comfortability will benefit him from absolutely everywhere on the floor, not just from long range. We have already seen Edgecombe’s ability to quickly dance his way through or around defenders in the mid-range to create shots out of thin air, but imagine him getting comfortable slowing that down just a tad to be able to sink even more of those shots. Scary.
Now, of course we’re talking about a 20-year-old going in to just his sophomore season, so obviously this isn’t the only thing Edgecombe has to work on, but it’s what seems to be one of the biggest rooms for improvement with the biggest potential impact for the boy from Bimini.
The best part about Edgecombe, I’d argue, are the things that inspire incredible optimism for his continued development as a pro, beyond just having a successful debut season: the work ethic, attitude and confidence that he carries himself with. I personally have zero doubt that the guard — who has already returned to the team’s facility for offseason workouts — not only wants to improve in any way he can, but will be absolutely grinding to make it happen for his sophomore season with the Sixers.
