Without a shadow of doubt, VJ Edgecombe has been one of the best rookies this season. The Philadelphia 76ers have enjoyed having him light the fuse for their future, and the third overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft has definitely trumped expectations with his eye-popping play in his freshman campaign.
Having said that, the 76ers — in giving Edgecombe as much leeway as they can early in his career — seem to have slowly forgotten about another talented young player on their roster in Jared McCain. True enough, Edgecombe is among the league leaders in minutes per outing, yet the sophomore guard has seen his court time be erratic.
Of course, McCain is still working his way back from injuries which caused him to miss almost an entire calendr year. However, it is high time for the 76ers to acknowledge that Edgecombe, after a fiery start to the season, has unerringly cooled off by a lot since then. The team is forcing the issue with the rookie right now, all while McCain remains stuck on the sidelines.
The 76ers should invest more on Jared McCain this season over VJ Edgecombe
There is a world out there where Edgecombe and Maxey coexist. However, that time has not yet come for the 76ers, making it difficult for the coaching staff to lean into three-guard lineups with Tyrese Maxey at the pilot position.
Still, given the fact that Edgecombe’s shot looks iffy at the moment, it is incumbent upon the 76ers to make life easier for him by actually giving him more opportunities to pause, take a step back, and learn those in-game situations which he struggles with.
Instead, the coaching staff should give McCain more run. After a glacial cold returning stretch, McCain has since found his shooting stroke. And if this keeps up — and he is way too talented for that to not be the case — the 76ers should seriously consider relying more on McCain over their prized rookie.
McCain, a legitimate three-level scorer who has some flair for passing the rock, is a much easier piece to integrate into what the 76ers currently have at the crux of things. He also has more experience with him, and his ball-handling is much better than, say, Edgecombe and even Quentin Grimes.
Slowly but surely, the 76ers have to reduce VJ Edgecombe’s workload. He has already been reeling from the effects of having to play him so much, and the 76ers, to their favor, have a more than adequate fallback in the form of Jared McCain.