The Philadelphia 76ers selected VJ Edgecombe with the third overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
With Quentin Grimes holding out of media day and training camp while negotiating a new contract and Jared McCain suffering a torn UCL, VJ Edgecombe projects to be a starter to begin the season.
Tyrese Maxey is very fond of Edgecombe already as the two will make up the Philadelphia 76ers backcourt.
Edgecombe will have a clear runway to show what he can do as the 76ers look to have a bounce back year.
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty ImagesTyrese Maxey says VJ Edgecombe plays hard ‘on both ends of the floor’
Edgecombe will have a great opportunity being inserted into the 76ers lineup that will feature Maxey, Paul George and Embiid.
Since Edgecombe will be in the backcourt with Maxey, the two have spent a lot of time together.
Maxey continued to praise Edgecombe at 76ers media day and talked about what he does that most players do not do.
“VJ is a special talent. I think one of his talents that a lot of players don’t really use is like, how hard he plays on both ends of the floor with this offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, guarding the ball playing in transition.
“Those things are like things that like, little things that a lot of people don’t do. So I think he’s going to be really good at that. He likes to learn. He wants to get better. The sky’s the limit for him.”
Tyrese Maxey looks to regain All-Star status in 2025-26 NBA season
Following his All-Star season, Maxey was hampered by hamstring and finger injuries last season which caused him to play in a career-low 52 games.
The biggest thing that declined for Maxey was his three-point shooting percentage. It dipped from 37.3 percent to 33.7 percent in 2024-25.
Maxey should be able to bounce back after going through his first real speed bump because he’s an incredibly hard worker on and off the court.
It wasn’t that long ago that Maxey was torching teams alongside Joel Embiid. With how his career trajectory has gone to this point, Maxey should get back on track in a big way.