The Philadelphia 76ers‘ immediate and medium-term future looked murky coming into this season. Center Joel Embiid, their best player and franchise centerpiece, has been unable to avoid knee injuries over the years, and although he returned to action in their regular-season opener on Wednesday, he didn’t look good.
He went 1-of-9 from the field in 20 minutes and had a noticeable lack of lift and mobility. However, that game against the Boston Celtics gave Philly fans a reason to be hopeful and even optimistic about things moving forward.
Rookie guard V.J. Edgecombe, the No. 3 pick in June’s NBA draft out of Baylor University, started his pro career with a bang. He scored 14 points in the first quarter, giving him the highest-scoring first quarter a player has ever had in his league debut.
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As it turned out, he was just getting warmed up. He ended up dropping 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field, which meant that he put together the third-highest scoring NBA debut of all time.
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When a brand-new rookie gets mentioned in the same breath as the late Wilt Chamberlain, who was arguably the greatest athlete to ever play for a Philadelphia sports team, he’s obviously doing some things the right way.
The Sixers ended up scraping by the Celtics, 117-116, and although Edgecombe missed two free throws with 8.5 seconds left and a chance to ice the game, he converted two foul shots with 14.1 seconds remaining to put them ahead by three points.
Between him, All-Star Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain, who looked like a stud as a rookie last season, the Sixers appear to have a very promising and potent backcourt for the next decade — at least.
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In the meantime, they have the unenviable task of getting Embiid back into game shape and limiting his risk of injury. Paul George, the nine-time All-Star forward they signed to a huge contract last summer, didn’t play on Wednesday after undergoing offseason knee injury. He was limited to 41 games last season due to injury.
Even if Embiid and George won’t stay fully healthy this season, Philly should be able to be at least somewhat competitive thanks to young studs such as Edgecombe.
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