VJ Edgecombe is in the thick of the NBA Rookie of the Year race. The competition is about as stiff as possible, unfortunately, with Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Jeremiah Fears, and Cedric Coward all vying for the award, too, and all making strong cases as the year progresses.
The Sixers' rook might have a leg up on the rest of the competition, though, thanks to one thing that a rookie doesn't actually have much control over: team success. Philly is playing great basketball right now, and Edgecombe is a vital piece of that.
If team success factors into the ROY race, then Fears and Knueppel might already be eliminated. They play on the Pelicans and Hornets, respectively, two teams likely to finish in the gutters of their conferences.
The question is... Does team success factor into the race? If we look at recent history, it's hard to make an argument one way or the other. Victor Wembanyama won ROY over Chet Holmgren despite the Spurs being much worse than the Thunder — but that's because Wemby was clearly better.
On the other hand, Paolo Banchero and Evan Mobley received over 90% of the first-place votes in 2021-22 despite Cade Cunningham's impressive rookie season, because the Pistons were really bad.
In short, it seems like team record acts as more of a tiebreaker in the ROY race. If two guys are neck-and-neck, the player on a better team will probably win. But if there's a clear gap between the two rookies, team success probably won't be enough for the worse player to make a real case
Could team success propel VJ Edgecombe to Rookie of the Year?
Probably not. If the Sixers keep playing like this, and the top three rookies (Edgecombe, Flagg, Kneuppel) keep producing how they have, Edgecombe might get the nod, but it likely won't be because the Sixers are three or four games better than the Mavericks. If the Mavs totally fall off in the second half while the Sixers cruise, then maybe. But don't hold your breath on that, as the Mavs are playing much better basketball recently.
Plus, Flagg is the Mavs No. 1 option when Anthony Davis is sidelined, and posting anything near league-efficient scoring on pretty high volume while being the go-to guy on a team (no matter how good the team is) unfortunately makes a pretty strong case.
In short, the Sixers aren't good enough and the Mavericks aren't bad enough to factor into this close of a race. Edgecombe will just have to be the clear best rookie to take home the hardware. It's not crazy to think he can be.