Bahamian basketball standout and new Philadelphia 76ers draftee Valdez ‘VJ’ Edgecombe is now a millionaire.
Edgecombe got a taste of what it’s like to be paid as a professional athlete when he cashed in on NIL (name, image and likeness) deals in his only season of college basketball, but now, whatever he earned last season is multiplied 10 times over.
Edgecombe signed a four-year, $50,438,207 contract with the Sixers on Tuesday, including $22,772,760 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $12,609,552. In 2025-26, Edgecombe will earn a base salary of $11,108,880, carrying a cap hit of the same amount.
Edgecombe also inked a multi-year endorsement deal with athletic giant Adidas, and is now looked at as one of the future faces of Adidas basketball. He joins NBA stars James Harden, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Edwards, who are all Adidas athletes.
Edgecombe, the third overall selection in the 2025 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft, has tremendous upside. There are talks that he could start right away, alongside all-star guard Tyrese Maxey in the Sixers’ backcourt. That will be determined through the NBA 2K Summer League 2025 and the Sixers training camp.
Edgecombe and the Sixers will play in the Salt Lake City Summer League, hosted by the Utah Jazz, from July 5-8, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Sixers will play the Utah Jazz in their opening game at 9 p.m. tomorrow night. They will then play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday, and the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
The Sixers will then move on to the Las Vegas Summer League tournament, and will play their first game against the San Antonio Spurs on July 10 at 10 p.m. That game will be played at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas Summer League tournament will wrap up on July 20.
The Bahamian had a spectacular one-and-done season with the Baylor University Bears.
He started 29 of 29 games for the Bears, leading them in minutes played at 32.7 per game, and he was one of the more dynamic players in division one basketball in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Edgecombe averaged 15 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range, in his first and only season in college basketball. He finished second on the team in scoring and assists, and led the team in steals, and also led all freshmen in the Big 12 Conference in scoring and finished third among freshmen in rebounds and assists. His 68 steals last year were tied for fourth-most throughout the Big 12 and set the all-time record by a freshman in program history.
Edgecombe had six games of at least 20 points in college, including a career-high 30 points on 8-for-13 shooting against the Kansas State University Wildcats at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas, on January 22. The Bears won that game, 70-62, on their home court.
Edgecombe finished the 2024-25 season as one of seven players in college basketball, and one of only two freshmen, to average at least 15 points, five rebounds, and two steals per game.
Edgecombe, a 19-year-old 6’5” athletic wing player, was named Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and also earned All-Big 12 Freshman Team and All-Big 12 Second Team selections. He went on to have a strong performance at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine, leading to his number three overall selection by the Sixers in June.
He’s an explosive athlete with the potential to excel on both ends of the court for the Sixers.
Edgecombe has a bright future, and the sky is the limit for the Bahamian basketball star.