Rising sophomore V.J. Edgecombe could struggle to blossom for the Philadelphia 76ers next season.
V.J. Edgecombe had a standout rookie campaign for the Philadelphia 76ers.
He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel while averaging 16.0 points on 43.8% shooting in 75 games. Despite this strong first season, the 76ers still finished as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Because of this, the new-look front office felt the need to shake up the roster in a major way, which came in the form of trading for All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown.
Most agree the acquisition is phenomenal for the Sixers, but Edgecombe may be the biggest loser of the deal. Why, you might ask? Well, to put it plainly, Brown's arrival could stunt Edgecombe's on-court growth.
He won't lose his starting spot or anything of such significance, but Brown will command a lot of touches on offense and defend one of the opponent's best players on a nightly basis.
Before trading for Brown, the blueprint was undoubtedly to provide Edgecombe with a greater role and more touches. Now, that is unlikely to happen.
Last season with the Boston Celtics, Brown attempted 21.7 shots per game. Paul George, who the 29-year-old is essentially replacing in the starting lineup, only put up 13.9 shots per game. While this proves Brown is sure to take away a fair number of touches from Edgecombe, there is a silver lining.
Joel Embiid played just 38 games last regular season and has not appeared in more than 40 games since the 2022-2023 season. The hope is the 2023 MVP will be more available next year, but if history repeats itself, Edgecombe will be the No. 3 option in matchups when Embiid is sidelined. That is 18.3 shots per game that will need to come from other players. Edgecombe should take full advantage of that opportunity.
While Edgecombe's development could end up taking a backseat role to competing for a championship with Brown in the mix, he'll still have plenty of chances to shine.
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