The Philadelphia 76ers will enter training camp having a lot of questions surrounding the roster. After all, there is this sentiment about the front office actually falling short of their probable agenda this summer in view of their unimpressive moves aside from their predictable ventures during the 2025 NBA Draft.
Outside of drafting VJ Edgecombe without the third overall pick and resisting the urge to go with someone whom draft gurus touted as the prospect with the higher ceiling, the 76ers did not really do anything that could convince most people that the worm will finally turn for them next season. To cut to the chase, the front office was far from impressive this summer. Let’s not sugarcoat things.
But to hell with the things they did not do. Training camp is within reach, and soon enough, fans will be able to get a glimpse of how this talented, albeit flawed, roster, will piece together in hopes of bolstering their comeback bid next season. It would also be interesting to see how the coaching staff will plot the rotation and carve out roles for their players.
One thing to look out for is how Nick Nurse and his crew plan to allocate minutes in the backcourt. Between Tyrese Maxey, Edgecombe, Jared McCain, and Quentin Grimes (assuming he re-signs with the team), the 76ers have four players who should soak up a lot of minutes next season.
VJ Edgecombe should quickly improve as a playmaker for the 76ers to get more minutes next season
Edgecombe is probably the best option to start next to Maxey when taking into account the long term, but the 76ers are not exactly the kind of ball club to forego the opportunity to win now in order to build for later. It’s just not in their DNA. As a result, the rookie will probably ride the bench to kick things off.
Now, he will probably get more minutes as the season progresses, but that is far from a guarantee. After all, the 76ers have a redundancy of skill sets between those players, and if Edgecombe does not offer anything new, the coaches will definitely hand more court time to proven commodities like Grimes and perhaps McCain.
To differentiate himself a bit, Edgecombe should try to learn the ropes of being an above-average playmaker. His scoring ability is already unquestionable, but his backcourt mates are not lagging in the area. Hence, improving as a passer who can generate shots for others should help him net more minutes ahead of Grimes and McCain.
Next season would be a great test to see if VJ Edgecombe has what it takes to be an all-around player. If so, the 76ers would be happy to bump his minutes right away. But if not, the learning curve for him could involve a heavy dose of benching.