Philadelphia 76ers Draft VJ Edgecombe with No. 3 Pick

The 2025 NBA Draft officially kicked off tonight, with Duke’s Cooper Flagg officially hearing his name called first by the Mavericks, followed up by the Spurs calling on Rutgers guard Dylan Harper.

With those two picks expected and rumored for months now, many expected the draft’s first intrigue to officially start at No. 3 with Philadelphia. With the pick, the Sixers officially drafted VJ Edgecombe.

At 6-foot-5, Edgecombe toes the line between big guard and smaller wing well, and did so especially as a freshman star at Baylor. He was a highly-touted five-star, and lived up to the hype, stuffing the stat sheet for the Bears with consistency.

He’s a hyper-athlete, and used that skill to propel himself to 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Edgecombe should offer two-way prowess from the jump, and could have star-potential should he develop his handling and shooting further.

The Sixers saw an intruiging path towards landing the No. 3 pick, coming into the 2024-25 NBA season with likely title aspirations. Led by a trio of stars in Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, the team massively underachieved, with all three seeing injuries at various points in the season. Still, the team had a few bright spots in the form of overachieving guards in Quentin Grimes and Jared McCain.

Per an earlier scouting report from NBA Draft on SI: "On the offensive end of the floor, Edgecombe can do it all. When he needs to score on the perimeter or in the midrange, he has a smooth jumper and an ability to convert on tough, contested looks. He also has no problem getting to the rim and finishing with either power or touch, depending on the situation. Especially as he continues to improve as a 3-point shooter, Edgecombe will only become a more dynamic scorer. In transition, he really shines with his ability to play above the rim."

Next year, if they can avoid injuries for the entirety of the season, the 76ers will likely look to contend again in the East.

Philadelphia also owns the No. 35 pick, which will be picked during Thursday’s second round.

The next major milestone in the NBA offseason will be the 2025 NBA 2K25 Summer League held in Las Vegas, NV, which will take place from July 10-20.