No surprise here, the Sixers’ rookie is getting recognized for his stellar inaugural season as a pro.
Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe has been named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, the league announced on Wednesday night. The other First Team rookies for this season are Cedric Coward (Memphis), Cooper Flagg (Dallas), Dylan Harper (Spurs) and Kon Knueppel (Hornets).
The last Sixer to make the All-Rookie First Team was Ben Simmons, way back in 2017-18.
Just about a year ago, Edgecombe was selected third overall in the 2025 Draft by the Sixers, and he’s been showing off the capabilities and personality of a star ever since — of course, starting with his 34-point career debut against the Boston Celtics to open the season. Sure, he didn’t end up doing quite that every single game, but there’s very few rookies that showed more league-ready promise than Edgecombe did on a consistent basis, even in some big moments. In 75 games as a rookie, the 20-year-old averaged 16.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.2 assists. Not only that, but he proved that he’s already ready to be relied upon by his teammates in the clutch, with Edgecombe posting a number of incredibly-timed, massive buckets (and performances overall) throughout his first campaign in the NBA.
Though a distant third to Rookie of the Year-winner Flagg and runner-up Knueppel, Edgecombe was the clear-cut selection by voters for third place in that race. Edgecombe actually joined Flagg and Knueppel in receiving all First-Team nods from the 100 voters surveyed for the All-Rookie selection. Certainly not bad company to be in the mix with, and a display of how highly Edgecombe’s play is being regarded, even outside of the Sixers-specific orbit.
Seeing the players that made the First-Team alongside Edgecombe down throughout the Second-Team — and even some that didn’t make the cut for either — really makes you appreciate the talent that has already been shown by the 2025 draft class. And it’s only the beginning for this crew, with a number of guys on the list having not even hit their 21st birthdays yet.
Edgecombe is one of them. So, let’s hope this rookie season was a sign of many more brilliant things to come for the Sixers’ boy from Bimini.
