VJ Edgecombe

[FarBeyondDriven]

Keon Johnson/Josh Hart 2.0. Nearly identical physical profile to both. Not as vertical as Keon of course but a more well-rounded player closer to Hart. Keon finally got a chance to play this season and has established himself as a decent low-end starter/role player putting up 13/4/3 as a starter. About what I expect from VJ early with current Hart upside down the road. Solid NBA starter. I don't think a team would complain if that's what they get out of him with a 5-10 pick

[76ciology]

Here's my new emerging theory on Edgecombe: It may be possible for him to play like Ja Morant.

Let's say he measures out around 6'3" and 185 lbs. He's fairly shifty and explosive off the dribble, but he's not powerful enough or advanced enough to play a Donovan Mitchell or Anthony Edwards-type role as a multi-level, isolation scorer. Why not play him at the 1 and have him do what Ja Morant does, which is--start at the top of the circle and either drive straight at the rim, take an open jumper, or make a fairly straightforward pass.

Edgecombe can drive, put pressure on the rim, and then either make a big finish or a basic pass to another secondary creator. All he really needs to do is make the defense collapse on him. It's not super sophisticated, but it could work for him.

I was browsing old posts about VJ and came across yours, turns out, I’ve been saying the exact same thing to my board all along. Glad to see someone else shares that perspective. I call it the “OKC lead guard archetype”, built around spamming the 1-5 PnR formula. These guards thrive against deep drop coverage that respects their blow-by speed. They can punish it with a slightly contested midrange pull up or attack the big if he plays at the level of the screen.

What sets them apart is that they all play bigger than their listed size, whether through length or explosive athleticism, making them elite finishers once they get into the paint. Think Westbrook, Oladipo, and SGA.

Vj also has basic handles that he can work and develop, a good shooting profile and high release where he might improve his on ball shotcreation like a lot of these 2 way high motor players

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[vincecarter4pres]

I’m not shutting down the comparison on my end, but I don’t remember Monta being half the run/jump athlete VJ is.

I think level of player, and raw on paper numbers/production it could happen as his likely ceiling, but idk about stylistically and certainly not athletically, again, iirc.

Still see some smaller Michael Finley or J Rich, maybe even shorter Josh Howard, though he was completely allergic to passing. Oladipo still seems the closest.

I do still have major concerns with his height, wingspan and overall size given his skillset and style though, why although I still stick to I wouldn’t be mad at anyone taking him 4th or below, I still wouldn’t.

I struggle to see him fail and completely bust, but he also has a tall hill to climb to see stardom, or even plus level decade long starter with an AS game or two.

If you don’t remember how athletic Monta Ellis was that’s on you bro. Dude was an elite athlete.

But I don’t remember him being as vertically explosive.

Harden was 100% an elite athlete, but not the same explosiveness at the rim as say Oladipo, for example.

[Bucks4005]

If I im the Hornets, I look to move up and try and get this guy. As a defender, he is so much better at the point of attack th]ar you could have him defend PGS, while,being able to hide LaMelo as a wing defender type role and let him play a SG role on offense. I do t think the Hornets defense with ever improve if you keep having LaMelo defend PGs all day, you need to find that way to hide him a bit.

[Notanoob]

In halfcourt, Edgecombe only hit 48.9% of his shots at the rim. That's pretty bad and a huge problem if you're trying to project a star player. Touch is something most guys just have or don't have from what I can tell, and he doesn't have it.

The athleticism and passing are there, and he could be a solid shooter in the NBA, so there's clear path to him being a valuable player, but that finishing+relatively basic handle is a real limitation. Probably just going to be an decent 2 guard and not a regular all-star.

[76ciology]

In halfcourt, Edgecombe only hit 48.9% of his shots at the rim. That's pretty bad and a huge problem if you're trying to project a star player. Touch is something most guys just have or don't have from what I can tell, and he doesn't have it.

The athleticism and passing are there, and he could be a solid shooter in the NBA, so there's clear path to him being a valuable player, but that finishing+relatively basic handle is a real limitation. Probably just going to be an decent 2 guard and not a regular all-star.

Every prospect has flaws. Harper shoots just 30% from three and 31% from midrange. Tre Johnson has half the halfcourt rim frequency of VJ, is a poor rebounder, and a liability on defense. Kneuppel isn’t projected to create separation on offense and is a defensive neutral at best. Ace Bailey has questionable IQ, inconsistent perimeter shooting, horrible passing and ball handling abilities.

At least with VJ, it’s easy to envision him developing into an effective halfcourt finisher, he’s a good athlete, has a low center of gravity, a quick first step, and real explosiveness. His handle is already shows flashes of guard skills that could continue to improve.


Against best defenses in the country.
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[Notanoob]

Every prospect has flaws. Harper shoots just 30% from three and 31% from midrange. Tre Johnson has half the halfcourt rim frequency of VJ, is a poor rebounder, and a liability on defense. Kneuppel isn’t projected to create separation on offense and is a defensive neutral at best. Ace Bailey has questionable IQ, inconsistent perimeter shooting, horrible passing and ball handling abilities.

I think Johnson will be a bust and isn't good at anything beyond jumpshooting really. Kon's footspeed is terrible and will keep him from being a good player since he won't be able to get past or stay in front of anyone good in the NBA. I'm sure Baily will bust. I'd take VJ ahead of all of them easily.

My criticism of Edgecomb isn't that he sucks or that he shouldn't go 3rd overall ahead of those guys, just that I think he's not a future star player, merely a good one.

[76ciology]

Windy in his podcast today, asked Givony what he like about VJ

Just the explosiveness. I mean, just first of all, the trajectory that he's on. He played his high school basketball in Long Island, so I've been able to watch him here for over the last two, three years.
He was really just a defender early on in his career. He wasn't even ranked in the top 100 the first time that I saw him. But just the intensity that he brings, just the defensive versatility, that toughness, that edge.

But his ball skills have gotten significantly better. He's become a guy that you could legitimately see playing point guard at some stage in his career. I think what really sold people was what we saw from him in the Bahamas national team this past summer, playing in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament against Spain, against Poland.

He was playing point guard alongside Buddy Hield, Eric Gordon, Deandre Ayton. He was the best player on the floor. When you have that level of explosiveness, you can get to anywhere you want on the court when you're that dynamic in transition.
The type of shooting that he showed in the Big 12, in flashes, it wasn't consistent. But the upside with Vijay Edgecomb is through the roof. Now again, shades of Dylan Harper's situation in San Antonio.
How does VJ Edgecombe fit on that roster with Tyrese Maxey, with Jared McCain, with Quentin Grimes? I think in VJ Edgecombe’s mind, at least in his camp's mind, having that runway to play on the ball and to develop into a guy that can be a point
guard, I think is going to be important for him. How much room is he going to have there to explore that?

This is a team that was projected to contend for a championship this past season, and so there's going to be a certain amount of pressure on him. But I think everybody that's drafting at the top, I think you really have to throw fit out the window. You have to take the guy who's going to be the best player five years from now.

Roster has changed, but you know, like when you do a redraft, you want to feel like you drafted the guy who is the best available talent at that slot, regardless of position. And I think that feels like that's the way that Philadelphia is leading right now.

That Vj Edgecombe is that guy at three.

[EvanZ]

We act like we know for sure exactly what every prospect is going to be or not going to be. The only thing I know for sure in this Draft is that Cooper Flagg is the best prospect and a future star and will be shocked if he's a bust. The next 4-10 guys could all be busts or stars, it wouldn't shock me. And everyone has their subjective preferences and biases to rank those guys in the order they think makes sense. I have Ace Bailey one spot ahead of VJ. I could have flipped them around and not batted an eye. But I didn't. In the end you can only have one ranking. It doesn't mean you "got it all wrong" if the one guy you had second ends up the star and the other one the bust. And it doesn't mean you "hate" the guy you put 5th instead of 4th or whatever. That's a normal part of the process. We have way too many children fighting over the sand in their sandbox here. There's a world where VJ is De'Anthony Melton and there's a world where he's Donovan Mitchell. I don't know which world we are going to be living in and neither does anyone else here.

But anyway cue the inevitable victory lap taking 3 weeks into the season.

[amcoolio]

I will be fine with either VJ, Tre, or Ace tonight. All three have paths to be stars. Hornets roster is so bad they can't take a role player at 4 and hope to fix it.

I think the Sixers take VJ though. Just a gut feeling.

[EvanZ]

I will be fine with either VJ, Tre, or Ace tonight. All three have paths to be stars. Hornets roster is so bad they can't take a role player at 4 and hope to fix it.

I think the Sixers take VJ though. Just a gut feeling.

It's tomorrow night bro.

[SeattleJazzFan]

I will be fine with either VJ, Tre, or Ace tonight. All three have paths to be stars. Hornets roster is so bad they can't take a role player at 4 and hope to fix it.

I think the Sixers take VJ though. Just a gut feeling.

It's tomorrow night bro.

it's tonight bro.

[Special_Puppy]

I will be fine with either VJ, Tre, or Ace tonight. All three have paths to be stars. Hornets roster is so bad they can't take a role player at 4 and hope to fix it.

I think the Sixers take VJ though. Just a gut feeling.

Its going to be Kon and you will be happy

[EvanZ]

I will be fine with either VJ, Tre, or Ace tonight. All three have paths to be stars. Hornets roster is so bad they can't take a role player at 4 and hope to fix it.

I think the Sixers take VJ though. Just a gut feeling.

It's tomorrow night bro.

it's tonight bro.

what in the holy hell. It was always on a Thursday.

****, better get my board finalized lol.

[SeattleJazzFan]

It's tomorrow night bro.

it's tonight bro.

what in the holy hell. It was always on a Thursday.

****, better get my board finalized lol.

ha. yeah, my guess is because they went to two days of draft, they decided to move the first day up.

[clyde21]

it's tonight bro.

what in the holy hell. It was always on a Thursday.

****, better get my board finalized lol.

ha. yeah, my guess is because they went to two days of draft, they decided to move the first day up.

is anyone gonna even watch tomorrow? lol

[EmpireFalls]

Great, great debut from the kid. Showcased a mid range game that wasn’t always there at Baylor. Athleticism popped as we all knew it would. Energy levels and hustle off the charts. He’s really good.

[FarBeyondDriven]

Great, great debut from the kid. Showcased a mid range game that wasn’t always there at Baylor. Athleticism popped as we all knew it would. Energy levels and hustle off the charts. He’s really good.

not really. 28 points on 27 shots. 1-7 from three. 1-3 from FT. Did almost all of his damage against Clayton who legit might be the worst defender in the NBA this season. He looks really small too. Barely taller than Collier. His athleticism and hustle are as advertised though. He handled the ball a lot which is good for his development. Being an on-ball initiator is his only path to being special so it's good that they're giving him reps to get more comfortable.

[Upperclass]

I thought Ace looked about the same. Edgecombes game is the same as many guards who have dominanted summer league

[76ciology]