After a disastrous season where Joel Embiid only played a handful of games before needing knee surgery, Philadelphia’s reward was getting the third pick in Wednesday night’s NBA draft, which they used to select Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe.
Edgecombe, who was part of the Bahamian national team last summer alongside multiple current NBA players, is an explosive 19-year-old guard who could be a long term complement to All-Star Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia’s backcourt.
The 76ers’ pick nearly went to the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Al Horford-Danny Green swap five years ago, but it had a top-6 protection, letting the Sixers retain it.
Cooper Flagg went to the Dallas Mavericks at No. 1 while Dylan Harper went to the San Antonio Spurs, as expected.
At No. 4 the Charlotte Hornets selected Kon Knueppel out of Duke, a sweet-shooting guard who made the 2024-25 All-ACC team.