I wanted to title this “Living on the Edgecombe” or “Edgecombing the Desert” or even “VJ: Vantastic Joyage” but I didn’t have the nerve.1 Instead, let’s just go through all the Sixers related news, notes, and thoughts for the night.
Drafting VJ Edgecombe!
This was a good pick, a safe pick, and the right pick. VJ is the most athletic prospect in the class but shows refined defensive skills with energy and desire to get better. You’d think someone like that can’t shoot, but you’d be wrong. On a decent volume of 4.5 attempts per game, he hit 34% of his 3s. That isn’t great, but it’s not putrid either. Plus, you feel better about that knowing that he hit close to 80% of his free throws. Free throw percentage is a good indicator of the shooting skill transferring over to the pros. His best feature though might be that he is a leader.
VJ famously suited up for the Bahamian national team last summer for Olympic Qualifying. He immediately came in and wowed the pros on the squad by taking over a leadership role. If he can handle international competition naturally and then the SEC, he shouldn’t have any trouble in Philadelphia (famous last words) or at least adapting to the pro game.
Since becoming the head decision maker in Philly, Daryl Morey has drafted Tyrese Maxey, Jaden Springer, Jared McCain, and now VJ Edgecombe in the first round. There seems to be a very clear personality trait in all of these picks. Daryl isn’t picking a-holes. I’m not saying the guys picked before them were bad guys, but VJ now joins a backcourt that teammates want to play with and fans want to like. For as unlikeable as Ben Simmons became, that would simply never happen with Tyrese, Jared, or VJ. These are good people.
Drafting VJ Edgecombe?
The knock on this pick is that we will now likely have 4 starting caliber combo guards. The team already lacks size and VJ isn’t exactly helping that. Not to say he’s small, but his unspectacular armlength makes it hard for him to guard up on traditional wings. Unfortunately, he will be the best of the 4 in that regard. McCain is sturdy, but 6’2 and offensive minded. Tyrese improved on defense this season and got stronger, but he can still be picked on. Grimes is solid but has the same limitations as VJ but is not as athletic. Because of this, it will be hard to get 3 of them on the court at one time in most matchups. The best we can hope for is probably shifts of Maxey and Grimes then VJ and McCain off the bench. That doesn’t leave a lot of minutes though.
Don’t worry about this problem for two reasons. First, they are going to try their damnedest to run three out there at a time and hope to steal minutes for everyone. Afterall, it is not like the team has a ton of wing bodies that will be needing minutes. The forwards on this team are Paul George who will likely miss his fair share of games, Kelly Oubre who might get traded, and Justin Edwards. The guards will get their minutes. Second, the games where Embiid doesn’t play (which will be many) are going to need to be completely different than the games he does play. For too long the team’s offense was basically functioning with an Embiid-les blackhole on the court without him. With this roster, that has to change. The pace needs to be Pacers fast when he isn’t there. It just won’t work any other way.
Ace Bailey: Enemy of the State
I wasn’t particularly angry when it came out that Ace Bailey cancelled his Sixers workout at the last minute. Whatever, he’s 19 years old. In the days after, it became clear that he had an agenda of going to teams without any stars so he could be the leader. That’s fine too. I think it was dumb to forfeit the money that comes with a particular slot, but again, he’s 19. I still thought there was a chance the Sixers would pick him.
Something happened though when he was selected by Utah at #5 overall. The moment they called his name, a streak of anger went through me like lightning. It almost felt like I was being stabbed. I don’t know if this would have happened if he were drafted by his desired landing spots of Washington or Brooklyn, but there was something about Utah taking him that simply hurt.
He didn’t want to be a Sixer. That should be fine and not something I should take personally, but here we are. He wanted no part of my team for reasons that I don’t understand. As explained earlier, he had a path to minutes and surrounding talent here that no one else could have offered. He didn’t even want to come to Philadelphia. Have fun in Utah, jerkass. I can’t believe I hate a 19 year old kid for being dumb and opinionated! It bothers me that I am going to root against him for the rest of his career. Deep down, I want him to fail. This is the complete opposite of most sports opinions where I may hate someone superficially but know that it is my own problems that I am simply projecting. I know Ace is just a kid and probably getting bad advice. I don’t care. This is personal.
Joel Embiid Wants to Be Ready for Camp
Don’t we all. Daryl Morey gave a news conference where he dropped the first and only Embiid news since his April surgery. He is rehabbing vigorously and hopes to be ready for camp. Yes, that’s great, but is he running? That’s the only thing I want to know. We can build on running. Rehabbing could mean anything. His recovery from surgery was supposed to take 6 weeks. It has now been 10 weeks. All we have is that he is rehabbing. [gestures wildly in all directions]
Last year we didn’t even know Embiid was hurt until he was late for camp and we were told he was “ramping up” repeatedly. Ramping up from what? To me, not getting a definitive “he will be ready for camp” means that things ae not going well. I am an Embiid pessimist at this point, my optimism drained out of me over the years, so I am probably not the reliable Embiid oracle I claim to be. I would probably have been happier with no news instead of this wishy washy “vigorous rehab” comment.
The rest of the world seems to be taking this as good news though. Visions of an in-shape Embiid showing up to camp with no signs of the knee injury kryptonite that has sapped his power over the last 18 months dance in their heads. I wouldn’t count on it. In the second round, we need another center.
Tonight’s Second Round
For the first time, there will be a Day 2 of the Draft and the Sixers are picking pretty quickly at #35. This will be the 5th pick, therefore allowing us to create a short list of targets that could be there when that nice logo hits the board. What do we need? Well, as much as we like Adem Bona, we don’t like Andre Drummond and we probably need another center. The Sixers are going to try to find a way to kick Drummond into the sun before the season starts or at least fasten his immovable ass to the bench. In the same vein, we could really use some athleticism and strength in the front court to fill in the likely gap left by the likely departing Guerschon Yabusele. Who do we have?
- Rasheer Fleming – the local boy measured 6’8 with an astounding 7’5″ wingspan at the combine. He can rebound and he can shoot. Wait, then why hasn’t he been selected already? Well, he might not know how to play basketball yet. He can get the ball and shoot the ball, but making the right decision once he has it is not the strong suit. As a backup PF, that is fine with me. Surprisingly, that is an ideal prototype to playing with Embiid. He can play rangy defense while Embiid backs up the paint on one end, then stand in the corner and shoot 3s on the other end. HE HAS NEVER HAD SOMEONE LIKE THAT BEFORE!!!
- Maxime Raynaud – This would be the backup, stretch-5 center this team has never really had before either. Despite playing 4 years at Stanford after coming over from France, Raynaud only started devoting himself to basketball as a senior in high school. He can shoot and he can block shots. He would be the complete opposite of Adem Bona as a backup, but would likely get heavy minutes in an Embiid-less lineup.
- Noah Penda – Another French prospect is the do-everything Penda who has a large 6’7″ 242 pound body with a near 7′ wing span. He shoots funky but can do a little bit of everything on the floor. I haven’t seen the comparison, but that seems a lot like the Dancing Bear himself who he would likely be replacing or even the departed but never forgotten Paul Reed.
- Adou Thiero – He is another super-athlete like VJ but not nearly as refined. He has a 6’6″ height with a 7′ wing span. That’s good. He can’t shoot a lick though. That’s bad. He can draw fouls and get to the rim. That’s good. His foul shots contain sodium benzoate…that’s bad. Just kidding. If you are taking someone in the second round, they should either be good at everything but great at nothing or have at least a single elite skill. While Penda is the all around guy, Thiero is the elite skill guy with his defense and athleticism. I would be fine with either.
- Johni Broome – was one of the main characters this college basketball season for leading Auburn to a #1 ranking and the Final Four. He is another jack of all trades types who is not great at anything specifically. He is a leader though with a motor that just won’t quit. He would be a completely different kind of backup center for this team who would give the kind of energy and hustle we don’t have in the front court. The big draw back is that he is an atrocious shooter. His .587 free throw and .278 3-point percentages are the kinds of things that make fans lose their minds after a high effort play goes for naught.
At least 1 of these 5 will be available with the 35th pick and I would be fine with any of them. Don’t get your hopes up though. The Sixers might look to sell the pick for salary cap relief. Would someone take the 35th pick with Andre Drummond and possibly Eric Gordon? That’s basically selling the thing for $5m to $8m PLUS not having to sign a 2nd rounder for around $2m, that’s cap relief that might allow the team to bring back Yabusele. It is definitely on the table. I would rather have someone young and athletic though.
- There has to be some kind of U2 connection to be made for Adem Bona and Edgecombe. I still haven’t found what I’m looking for though. ↩︎
Philly Front Office 
Leave a comment