After the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Houston Rockets in a thrilling win, 128-122, there is no doubt some discussion from the basketball world on what the team would do ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline. With 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe sending a message to the league that he is legit, Bill Simmons discusses his trade value compared to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Simmons, on his show, would throw out a mock trade that sent Antetokounmpo to Philadelphia, but Edgecombe would be heading to Milwaukee, a deal that he even said the team would likely not do. He would credit how the fanbase would be mad at breaking up a backcourt with Tyrese Maxey and Edgecombe that has been very successful this season.
“It’s Giannis and the Gary Harris tiny contract for Paul George and the 2029 Clips – Philly swap pick that Milwaukee has for VJ Edgecombe,” Simmons said on his self-titled show. “I think they probably would not do this because they’d be afraid of how mad the fan base would be because the fan base has already decided this is great, Maxey and VJ, sign us up, we’re good.”
Bill Simmons speaks more about the trade value of 76ers' VJ Edgecombe
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Philadelphia 76ers guard Vj Edgecombe (77) brings the ball up court against the Phoenix Suns during the fourth quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
As the 76ers' fanbase has come to love Edgecombe this season after being selected with the third overall pick in the last NBA Draft, coming out of Baylor, it would be hard for any fan to trade him, even for Antetokounmpo, as Simmons says. He would even go as far as to say how Edgecombe has better trade value and how the 20-year-old could end up being like Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade.
“I think they say no,” Simmons said. “So if I do trade value again, forget about like all the reasons for it, I do think VJ Edgecombe might have a higher trade value than Giannis. As crazy as that sounds. On a rookie deal, 40 games into the season, and it’s like, we can’t trade him, he might be f—-ing Dwayne Wade. Like for real, this might be mid 2000’s Dwayne Wade again. We’re not trading him.”
This season, Edgecombe has averaged 15.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three-point range.