How Good Is VJ Edgecombe?
One of the most athletic players in college basketball could be an enticing option for the Sixers at Pick No. 3.
In early November, Baylor was down by 36 to Gonzaga with less than two minutes left in the game. Though the Zags’ subs had checked in, the Baylor starters remained, clearing the way for what quite possibly was the best dunk of the entire college basketball season.
That dunk came from Valdez Edgecombe Jr., better known as VJ Edgecombe. He’s a 6-foot-4 guard from The Bahamas with a 38.5-inch vertical, and one of the top contenders to be drafted with the third overall pick by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Edgecombe averaged 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game for a Baylor squad that went 20-15 and fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Duke. He entered the season as one of the top-ranked high school recruits, and was coming off a standout performance for the Bahamas national team at the 2024 Olympics qualifying tournament.
As one might have guessed from that first clip, Edgecombe primarily excels on offense as a downhill scoring threat, where he gets to tap into his incredible leaping ability and straight-line speed. Get him a running start going at the basket, and he’s liable to detonate on the rim and any defender in front of him. For a Sixers team that could use more juice to its transition offense, Edgecombe is an appealing option.
Additionally, though Edgecombe doesn’t quite have the scoring punch to consistently run an offense in the halfcourt and distribute to others, he is a talented passer. He’s great as a connector finding the next open man and accurately hitting interior looks (including the post entry passes so many fans often complain about players missing). He, like many other guards, has also taken after Tyrese Haliburton in showing folks that jump passes are good now, shoutout to Caitlin Cooper. Overall, he can help lift a scoring unit with good finds even if he’s rarely going to be running ball screens and controlling a halfcourt offense at the next level.
Yet, the most enticing portion of Edgecombe’s game occurs on the other side of the floor. He has some of the most impressive defensive clips of any prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft class, combining his explosive run-and-jump athleticism with great off-ball instincts to constantly make huge plays. His off-ball rim protection from the guard position is a true 99th percentile skill, matched only by someone like Derrick White in how he’s able to blow up at-rim attempts despite often being one of the shorter players on the court. His on-ball defensive playmaking isn’t quite as impressive as what he does rotating into space or chasing down layups in transition, but it’s certainly not a weakness.
He weighed in at under 200 pounds and measured at a +3.5-inch wingspan (solid, but not outlier by NBA standards) at the Draft Combine, and due to that slightly lacking size it could be somewhat more difficult for him to guard up a position at the NBA level, which a team like the Sixers might ask him to do given their current roster construction. Still, of Philly’s options with the third overall pick, it’s hard to see a non-center option with more defensive upside than Edgecombe.
There are flaws in his game, however, as there are for every prospect. When the game slows down in the halfcourt and Edgecombe can’t get a running start to create and attack as he catches the ball, his self-creation can be a little lacking. He doesn’t yet have the handle refinement, strength, or threat of a consistent pull-up jumper to get to his spots with regularity vs a set defense.
When attacking the rim, Edgecombe can often get pushed off of his driving line and away from the paint, leaving his layups short off the rim, as he’s just too far outside his ideal path to the basket. And though he is one of the best basketball leapers in the world right now when given a clear runway, he often jumps from too far out on his finishing attempts, trusting his athleticism too much and getting caught mid-air without a proper adjustment to the defense that’s met him at the rim.
Statistical evidence here can be a little shaky since BartTorvik and Synergy track at-rim attempts slightly differently. Taking out the 36 dunks Edgecombe attempted, BartTorvik tracked him as finishing 43-for-90 (47.8%) on his other at-rim shots, which would primarily be layups. As for Synergy, it had Edgecombe shooting 57-for-128 (44.5%) on layups this season at Baylor. Regardless of the exact number, finishing layups around the rim is definitely a current weakness in Edgecombe’s game.
That’s not to say that he is a totally inept finisher. He occasionally flashed some advanced techniques that should help him score amongst the trees at the next level. Two in particular that stood out were his large power hops through the paint that utilize his best athletic traits, as well as step-through moves that have been popularized by NBA stars like Jaylen Brown in recent years.
Edgecombe’s jumper, though not detrimentally bad by any means, certainly wasn’t up to the level most would have wanted during his lone season at Baylor. He shot 34% from three on 4.6 attempts per game, and per BartTorvik, made just 37 of his 96 non-rim two-point attempts (38.5%).
This is where concerns over his handle and play strength on the interior again lie, as Edgecombe doesn’t quite have a good mid-range counter yet in his bag, and can throw up some bad attempts when caught in that area of the court.
As a three-point shooter, Edgecombe had a season that’s common for many prospects. Per Synergy, he shot 36.3% from three on 124 catch-and-shoot attempts, but just 20% on 30 off-the-dribble three-point attempts. He’s much better-suited to be a tertiary option in an NBA offense than he is to be a primary at this point in time. Letting him shoot open spot-up threes and attack closeouts seems like a better plan for his early career performance rather than asking him to create shots and score off the bounce.
Though on a positive note, it’s worth mentioning that Edgecombe shot 39.1% from three on 274 attempts from 2022-24 in high school and FIBA play, according to Maurya Kumpatia (@TheFlareScreen) on Twitter/X.
So how might it work if Edgecombe were to be drafted by the Sixers? The fit isn’t the cleanest in the world given that he measured in at just 6-foot-4 and two of the Sixers’ franchise cornerstones in Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain are small by NBA standards. Edgecombe is guard-sized, but currently plays much more like a wing, and how much a team believes he can play minutes at the 3 in the NBA successfully likely determines the slot in which he’s getting drafted.
For the Sixers specifically, there could be some logic behind drafting Edgecombe as an insurance option to the double-small backcourt of Maxey and McCain, as the Baylor guard in theory makes more sense as a defensive-focused 2 next to whichever of those two is playing the 1. However, it would also be worth asking whether Edgecombe will improve enough to be viable to a high-level NBA offense while playing the 2. It’s much easier for wings and bigs to get by as defense-only players in the NBA than it is for guards.
Similar to a number of prospects who will be available to the Sixers in the draft, Edgecombe would be greatly aided by Joel Embiid returning to a recognizable level of play next season. A setting where he can play alongside Maxey, McCain, Embiid, and Paul George and attack advantageous situations created by those offensive stars is an ideal one for him (even if that hypothetical Sixers’ starting lineup would be very undersized).
Edgecombe’s defensive acumen and open floor athleticism likely guarantee him a spot as a rotation player. He’s a clear NBA-level athlete through and through, and shouldn’t look overwhelmed by the speed of the immense talents opposing him. Where his ceiling lies is the more open-ended question. He should have pathways to development, getting on the floor early and often for his defense, but it’s just hard to say with certainty that his handle, his pull-up jumper, and his finishing craft will all improve to the degree one wants for a third overall pick.
Then again, that’s just the nature of this year’s NBA Draft and the Sixers’ unique position within it. The top two picks are as set in stone and agreed upon in the collective basketball consensus more than any draft we've had in at least the past half-decade. Picks 3-10 is where everything gets wild, with everyone having a different opinion on which players are the best, what each team should do, and how it’s going to all play out.
No one knows yet what decision Daryl Morey and Co. will make a month from now, but with his eye-popping athletic talent and projectable upside as an offensive player, VJ Edgecombe will most definitely be one of the most tantalizing options on the table.
Daniel Olinger is a writer for the Rights To Ricky Sanchez, and author of “The Danny” column, even though he refuses to be called that in person. He can be followed on X @dan_olinger.
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