CAMDEN, N.J. — The Sixers added VJ Edgecombe to their group of young guards Wednesday night.
The team selected Edgecombe, an explosive athlete out of Baylor, with the third overall pick in the NBA draft.
Edgecombe, 19, is known for his ability to zoom around the floor and rise above the rim. He posted 15.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in his one college season.
Edgecombe measured at 6-foot-4 without shoes and 193 pounds at the draft combine. He’s a high-effort defender with the sort of turnover-forcing skills that Sixers head coach Nick Nurse tends to like.
Offensively, Edgecombe has obvious room for growth as a ball handler, finisher and pull-up shooter. In his one college season, Edgecombe shot 43.6 percent from the floor, 34 percent from three-point range and 78.2 percent at the foul line.
Former Sixer Buddy Hield is a mentor to Edgecombe. Before moving to the United States, Edgecombe was a standout at Hield’s basketball camp in the Bahamas.
The two were teammates last summer and Edgecombe impressed for the Bahamas in the FIBA Olympic qualifying tournament, averaging 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
The Sixers used the 16th overall pick in the 2024 draft on Jared McCain, who was sensational at times as a rookie before suffering a season-ending left lateral meniscus tear. Tyrese Maxey, the 21st pick in the 2020 draft, averaged 26.3 points and 6.1 assists last year in a severely disappointing, injury-ruined Sixers season. Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has also said the team intends to keep restricted free agent Quentin Grimes.
This story will be updated.