There are so many good NBA rookies this year that it’s easy to forget about VJ Edgecombe at times. The Philadelphia 76ers selected Edgecombe with the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft, and after a red-hot start, he cooled off just enough for his peers Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, Kon Knueppel, and Derik Queen to steal the spotlight. Edgecombe is still playing a major role as a rookie for a Sixers team in playoff contention, averaging more than 35 minutes per game while filling the box score in almost every category and hitting 38 percent of his threes so far. The 6’4 guard is still a little rough edges, but you can see the outlines of an impactful two-way starter developing.
VJ Edgecombe’s blocked shot with each hand shows how special NBA rookie class is
VJ Edgecombe’s chasedown blocks are art.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Edgecombe’s signature trait is his athleticism, which manifests itself most spectacularly in chasedown blocks. He had some awesome blocks during his lone college season at Baylor, and it’s already showing up on the NBA tape, too. On Thursday, Edgecombe made one of those plays that it feels like only he can make among guards his size.
After Flagg fed teammate Brandon Williams for a breakaway, Edgecombe hunted him down and blocked the shot with his left hand and then his right hand on the same play. Watch it here:
Here’s a better look at the play on the alternate angle:
And here’s the slo-mo view of the block:
Edgecombe is going to be really good eventually, whether he takes a leap as a star or just turns into an upper echelon role player. He’s one of the most athletic players in the league, he’s always competing for steals, blocks, and rebounds, and he can make a catch-and-shoot three. That’s a great foundation to build off of, especially when the coaches already trust him enough to make him No. 11 in the league in minutes per game as a rookie.
It’s wild to think Edgecombe might only be the fifth-best rookie this year. Every pick in the top-4 of the draft order already super impressive, and he’s part of that. Add in Queen and Jeremiah Fears on the Pelicans, Cedric Coward on the Memphis Grizzlies, and obvious sleepers like Ryan Kalkbrenner on the Hornets, and this rookie class is living up to the hype and then some.
The Sixers beat the Mavs on Thursday, Edgecombe out-played Flagg in the battle of top rookies, and he made the best play of the night. The future is bright for Edgecombe.
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