PHILADELPHIA – VJ Edgecombe watches basketball… a lot.
"I'm not even watching a Netflix show or nothing," he said after posting a dominant two-way performance in the final game of his first NBA preseason. "I just need to go on YouTube to watch basketball… I just watch a lot of basketball."
Edgecombe has smiled as viewers react with surprise at his flashes of advanced feel as a ball-handler. He is a 20-year-old rookie, after all, and one of his supposed weaknesses entering the 2025 NBA Draft was his on-ball skill. Before the season could even begin, though, Edgecombe has proven so much to his team that it reacted by putting him on the ball frequently and moving All-Star Tyrese Maxey away from it. He believes it is the product of his obsession with watching basketball. However it happened, it has changed the team's calculus.
"I think we thought, 'Okay, maybe he could play on the ball some,' and we were talking about 'Let's do it at Summer League,'" Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said after Friday's exhibition win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. "But where we're at, I think he's way ahead of where we thought he might be being able to do that."
Edgecombe recorded 26 points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals against the Timberwolves, shaking off a lackluster start and rapidly improving as the game went on, clearly looking like the best player on the floor as the game winded down.
If there is anyone not surprised by what Edgecombe did when empowered to play with the ball, it is the player who was hastily given the ball five years ago and parlayed the opportunity into stardom and hundreds of millions of dollars. How impressed is Maxey by Edgecombe's quick comfort against NBA defenders?
"Extremely," Maxey said. "…He makes good decisions, he doesn't let people speed him up. I think he plays extremely mature for being a rookie. He's good. He's good at basketball."
Any unexpected skill development Edgecombe experiences – or any strides he makes as a decision-maker – will be bonuses on top of the tremendous foundation of tenacity and athleticism which makes it impossible to imagine the No. 3 overall pick failing to become an impact player at this level. He is a truly elite athlete whose motor never stops running. That alone can take him a lot of places that many players cannot reach. His blazing end-to-end speed is truly remarkable to witness in person; Edgecombe's teammates have already gotten the memo to look for him as soon as a transition opportunity presents itself.
the rook to the hoop! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/MpoR8FiuVL
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 17, 2025
Because of the infrastructure surrounding Edgecombe – Maxey is an established star, Jared McCain is as polished offensively as any 21-year-old can be and Quentin Grimes has a well-rounded skillset on both ends of the floor – there is not much pressure on the rookie's shoulders in the short-term. But that does not mean he will not be thrown into the fire early. In fact, the opposite is true: Nurse plans to start Edgecombe when the Sixers begin the 2025-26 regular season on Wednesday night in Boston, and he is ready to embrace the inevitable bumps in the road.
Nurse said the level of success Edgecombe attains as a rookie will be determined by how many minutes he logs. His goal is to help Edgecombe experience as much of the good and bad that comes with being in the NBA as he can because "that's what playing in the league and gaining experience is all about." But as early as the night the Sixers tabbed Edgecombe as their newest franchise pillar, it was clear that no fire intimidates Edgecombe. He displays an unwavering sense of self-belief. It is genuine. Asked about that fearlessness on Friday night, Edgecombe almost looked confused.
"I mean, I know I worked hard to be in this position," Edgecombe said. "…If I wasn't ready for it, I wouldn't have been here. I feel as though I just have a lot of confidence. My teammates instill confidence in me also. So, I won't say it's easy, but it's basketball at the end of the day. I'm trying not to overthink it. I love the game so much… It just flows naturally, man. I'm just out there having fun."
Flowing naturally would be a good way to describe the Sixers' guard play on Friday. Maxey dominated early, then moved away from the ball and Edgecombe got in a rhythm. In between their two heaters was one for Quentin Grimes. The three guards whose ages add up to 69 years combined to score 75 points. They all can threaten opposing defenses with or without the ball in their hands and play with a tremendous pace.
"That's the name of the game right now in the NBA: pushing the pace and getting up threes," Grimes said. "We've got a lot of guys who play fast, push the pace, create opportunities for not just ourselves but our teammates. So I feel like if we keep pushing the pace, it'll get the defense tired. And it might get us tired, too, but we'll be alright in the long run."
For Maxey and Grimes, their off-ball scoring method is the traditional one: three-point shooting. Edgecombe has worked tirelessly to improve his jumper, specifically adding an arc to it so it is not flat like it was during his lone collegiate campaign at Baylor. He is a competent shooter right now, but probably not one who will be consistently reliable just yet.
Edgecombe's transition scoring will be a weapon right away, though, and he is seeking out other avenues to score. One of those is forcing turnovers; Edgecombe said his favorite part of Friday's box score was his five steals. After Friday morning's shootaround, Edgecombe spoke about the pride he takes in his defensive output and how extensive studying of the game's elite defenders has helped him grow. Another one is cutting, as Edgecombe continues to beat defenders back-door, though his finishing will need to improve:
VJ Edgecombe gives up the ball and immediately flows into a back-door cut. Dominick Barlow makes a great pass to a cutting Edgecombe, but the rookie cannot finish at the rim: pic.twitter.com/rSn0uPeuHY
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) October 18, 2025
On Friday night, there were a few highlight dunks, a pair of threes and some acrobatic finishes at the rim. But Edgecombe's first basket came when his defender tagged a rolling Joel Embiid as a shot went up and Edgecombe filled the open lane for an easy put-back layup off the miss.
Edgecombe knew he would get that offensive rebound, he said. The reason he provided: he just knows when he will get an offensive rebound.
How?
"It's natural," Edgecombe said.
Edgecombe knows he has a chance to make an impact on the glass, a rarity for a guard of his size. But he has developed a strong understanding of how to read where misses will ricochet, another example of his strong basketball instincts. The absurd athleticism does not hurt, either.
"And I jump pretty high," Edgecombe said. "So I can just go up there sometimes, snag it when they're not looking, disrespecting it."
Maybe for a player believed to not yet have a tight enough handle to play on the ball in the NBA, Edgecombe's unabashed confidence is the perfect ingredient for a successful rookie season. If Friday's showing was any indication, there are many ways he has a chance to impact winning for the Sixers.
"Kudos to him, dude," Maxey said. "The way he's doing out here right now is good. I'm ready to see him in some real action, and I can't wait for him to get started on his career."
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