March 22, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET
Back in June, the decision for the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA draft came down to VJ Edgecombe or Ace Bailey. The Sixers held the No. 3 pick in the draft and with Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper off the board, the next best prospects for the Sixers were Edgecombe and Bailey.
Of course, Philadelphia chose Edgecombe and he has been terrific for Philadelphia in his rookie season. He’s averaging 15.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.0 assists for a Sixers team that has hopes of contending in the Eastern Conference.
Bailey went No. 5 to the Utah Jazz and is having a solid rookie season of his own averaging 13.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and shooting 35.2% from deep. Edgecombe had 22 points and Bailey had 25 on Saturday as the rookies did battle with Philadelphia prevailing 126-116 over the Jazz.
After the win, Edgecombe and Bailey embraced, and then Edgecombe took to Instagram to give love to Bailey.
Edgecombe and the Sixers moved up to the No. 7 seed in the East with the win and they will look to keep things moving when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
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