CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers selected VJ Edgecombe with the No. 3 pick in the 2025 draft after a tough 2024-25 season. The Baylor star is expected to immediately make an impact and give the Sixers a big boost of athleticism and basketball IQ.

Edgecombe has only been able to play in two preseason games thus far as he missed the third game due to a hip injury, but the rookie has certainly impressed coach Nick Nurse and the staff. He has made an impact in both the games and in the practice facility as he has caught the eye of just about everybody.

“He does kind of a lot of everything,” Nurse said on Wednesday. “Like, to me, his exceptional things. Obviously, he’s, like, really good at just getting into his man and guarding and getting over screens and, like, he does that at an amazing level, right? Like, you can screen him all day and maybe never get him off his man sometimes when he’s locked in defensively. That’s pretty good.”

To Nurse’s point, Edgecombe has been able to fight over screens and stay with his man. He defended New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson while out in Abu Dhabi to begin the preseason and he was fighting over screens, using his speed and quickness to stay with Brunson, and make life tough on him.

On top of that, he has been smart on the offensive end. He has taken the shots that he needs to while also helping Tyrese Maxey push the pace. On top of that, he’s understanding where he needs to be on the offensive end within the new system Nurse is trying to implement so Philadelphia is feeling good about its prized rookie.

“I’ve probably been most impressed with his IQ,” Nurse finished. “He really knows what’s happening. He asks super thoughtful questions. He learns something from the film one day and applies it immediately to the floor the next. He’s rebounding, he’s blocking shots, he’s shooting probably better than we expected. He’s making plays at the rim. Offensively, there’s a lot of things that just are contributing to him being a good player.”

The Sixers will have one final preseason game on Friday when they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at home.