Ben Simmons was the last Sixer to win Rookie of the Year back in 2017-18. Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Derik Queen are the favorites to win the award in 2025-26.
Flagg, a no-doubter No. 1 overall pick,
is picking it up after a tough start to the year with the 10-17 Dallas Mavericks. He recently recorded his first 40-point game and is showing the superstar potential of his game at age 18.
The Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, is deservedly in the mix. He’s thriving offensively while playing a huge role on an 8-18 team and seemingly nudging LaMelo Ball out as the franchise’s cornerstone.
Then there’s Queen, who is doing his best to make sure people focus on his play more than the exorbitant price New Orleans paid to select him 13th overall. The Pelicans have the worst record in the West at 5-22, but Queen and fellow rookie Jeremiah Fears are providing the fan base hope.
In most seasons, the player with the best stats wins the award. Winning it will look great on a resume. All three of Flagg, Knueppel and Queen appear well on their way to be outstanding NBA players for years to come.
With respect to what that trio has accomplished this season, what VJ Edgecombe is doing on a 14-11 Sixers team with three recent All-Stars is just as, if not more impressive.
How is he doing it?
“I don’t know. I just continue to go back to feel and understanding,” head coach Nick Nurse said after practice Thursday. “He seems to have a feel for what’s needed and what’s going to happen.”
As a 20-year-old who won’t turn 21 until the offseason, Edgecome has carried himself like a seasoned vet. On and off the court, he never gets too high or too low. If you watched him on the floor and nobody told you he was a rookie, you wouldn’t think he was.
Edgecombe has played in 22 games this season, starting all of them. For the bulk of those games, he’s shared the backcourt with Tyrese Maxey. Maxey is having yet another breakout season. He’s third in the NBA in scoring at 31.5 points per game and looking like an All-NBA performer almost every night.
In the two games Maxey missed recently, Edgecombe scored 22 and 26 points, respectively. For a little perspective, Edgecombe hadn’t scored 20 points since Nov. 19. The 26 points tied his second-highest total, matching the number he hit in the third game of the season back on Oct. 27.
The Sixers still could’ve used Maxey, but Edgecombe’s ability to scale up his scoring helped the team be competitive in both contests.
“I must say, I definitely miss him out there,” Edgecombe said. “He helps take the load off of everyone on the court.”
Nurse was impressed his rookie was able to replicate last Friday’s performance against the Indiana Pacers just two nights later against the Atlanta Hawks.
“He did it great the first night, but this league’s about doing it consistently and all that,” Nurse said. “But I think it was a good learning experience for us and just continue to see varieties of ways we can play or how we gotta play when things happen.“
While he hasn’t played with them as much, Edgecombe has also gotten minutes with seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid and nine-time All-Star Paul George.
The Sixers previously assembled a Big 3 to contend for a championship. When that didn’t come to fruition last season, the tank was on — a tank that ultimately secured the No. 3 overall pick and Edgecombe. Now, he’s playing next to those three max contract players seamlessly.
Edgecombe’s mind doesn’t go to wondering how he’ll fit when everyone is healthy. He thinks about just how good the team can be when that’s the case.
“And now with Joel and P, I just want to see how we gel as a team,” he said. “Having everyone healthy, that’s something we haven’t seen yet. And I feel like we can be really scary, especially with the level Tyrese is playing at this year.”
Think about how difficult it has to be. You’re a 20-year-old kid from The Bahamas, and now you’re playing next to the likes of Maxey, Embiid and George on a team that’s trying to win basketball games. Edgecombe has both stood out and fit in better than anyone could’ve imagined.
Edgecombe’s calling card coming out of Baylor was his freakish athleticism. With the front office’s emphasis on getting younger and more dynamic, Edgecombe was the perfect fit — a point he joked about while referencing the lack of jumping and dunking he’s seen from George and Maxey this season.
But what’s stood out most is Edgecombe’s understanding of the game. He seems to always be in the right place at the right time and has already produced several clutch plays in his short NBA career. He mostly credits simply watching basketball for that ability.
Growing up in The Bahamas, he spent much of his time playing outside, but he said around 2017, 2018, his mom got him an iPad, where he began consuming all the basketball he could.
“I watch a lot of basketball and I have a really good memory too,” he said. “My IQ definitely came from watching basketball. Now, I’m just trying to continue to grow it, get better at it — try to be one of the best players in the league with the best IQ.”
Nurse said Edgecombe’s understanding of the history of the game makes it obvious he’s watched a ton of basketball — to perhaps a maniacal degree.
“He’s watched and absorbed a lot of basketball,” Nurse said. “That’s probably always a big thing. And probably a little bit obsessively. He watched it, he had the bug and he can’t get enough of it.”
Refreshing compared to the last Sixer to win Rookie of the Year.
