Philadelphia 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe was sensational in his regular season debut, torching the Boston Celtics for 34 points on 13-of-26 shooting. It was an electrifying performance from a player who made a late surge to No. 3 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft.
NBA analyst and historian Bill Simmons offered a bold take on Edgecombe's brilliant debut, comparing him to one of the greatest players in Association history: Dwyane Wade.
Edgecombe, 20, is already turning heads with his explosive athleticism and unexpected success with the ball in his hands. He scored 26 points in his final preseason game and picked up where he left off once the regular season began, erupting against one of Philadelphia's most bitter rivals.
During a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons offered high praise for Edgecombe and spoke to how eerily similar watching him was to observing Wade in 2005.
"The Maxey and VJ together was just the most electric. The VJ thing is unbelievable. The big thing on him coming out of the draft was: This guy's an incredible athlete but he can't finish. He has terrible finishing stats. Let me tell ya: He finished the f*** out of the Celtic game. He was finishing everything. And he's competitive and he's got a swagger to him. Him and Maxey together, that's the future of that team. The Sixers fans should be over the moon about this. The Embiid thing, the extension, disaster. George, disaster. But all of it led to them getting the third pick in the draft and getting rejuvenated with this guy who looks like 2005 Dwyane Wade."
That's high praise from Simmons that may qualify as too soon to truly embrace, but Edgecombe has undoubtedly looked special in the admittedly early stages of his career.
Bill Simmons compared watching VJ Edgecombe to 2005 Dwyane Wade
The similarities between Edgecombe and a young Wade are admittedly easy to see. Both are 6'4" shooting guards with absurd levels of athleticism and the fierce competitiveness that makes them a threat to cause havoc on both ends of the court.
Edgecombe making his NBA debut by scoring at virtual will against two of the best defenders in the NBA in Jaylen Brown and Derrick White was eerily similar to how Wade used to torment top-tier players.
Clearly, Simmons isn't stating that Edgecombe is the next Wade. Wade, of course, retired as a three-time NBA champion who won the 2008-09 scoring title and earned eight All-NBA nods and the 2006 Finals MVP award during his Hall of Fame career.
The comparison is based exclusively on the skills and intangibles on display during the opener, including Edgecombe's explosiveness, competitiveness, and finishing ability.
As Simmons noted, one of the common knocks against Edgecombe coming out of college was that he hadn't yet formulated an efficient manner of finishing inside. Criticism ranged from mistiming his jumps for contested finishes to thriving more with circus shots than traditional conversions.
If only for one night, however, Edgecombe showed just how dominant he can be when he's taking the ideal approach to scoring.
VJ Edgecombe already blowing pre-draft expectations out of the water
There are still issues that Edgecombe will need to work through, as evidenced by the fact that he shot 42.9 percent on 15 drives against the Celtics. He went 6-of-7 within nine feet of the rim, however, and converted all six of his dunk and layup attempts.
First-year inconsistency is destined to be a factor as the learning curve is faced and ideally overcome, but even individual games are worth celebrating at this stage.
As Simmons mentioned, the opener also strengthened the belief that the backcourt duo of Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey could be the future of the 76ers. Unlike the countless teams that have attempted to build around two shot-creating guards in the past, Philadelphia has invested in a dynamic pairing that should offer value on both ends of the floor.
Maxey is more of an offensive-minded player, but Edgecombe's competitiveness ranges far beyond scoring and creating for teammates.
Edgecombe has been heralded as one of the best defensive prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft. He delivered during the opener by holding Brown, Payton Pritchard, Anfernee Simons, and White to a combined mark of 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
If Edgecombe's first career regular season game is a sign of things to come, then perhaps the Wade comparison may be closer to ambitious than outrageous after all.