Monday, October 19, 2026
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The Philadelphia 76ers enter the 2026-27 season with a refreshed look and a heap of expectations. With so much talent assembled on a roster that has not played together before, there are sure to be some kinks to iron out as everyone learns their new roles and tries to come together as one.
VJ Edgecombe may be the player in the Sixers' projected starting five who has to sacrifice the most to make it work. He is going to be thrust into a dirty-work role where not all of his contributions will appear in the box score, but they will prove crucial to the operation as the Sixers look to end their 44-year championship drought.
Here are three realistic expectations for VJ Edgecombe in his sophomore NBA season:
Edgecombe is going to have the luxury of being the forgotten man in the Sixers' starting five as teams rightfully gear up to try to stop the top four guys in the pecking order. But Edgecombe is simply too good, even at this early stage of his career, to be forgotten. It just so happens that the other guys are naturally going to demand more attention.
He may never see as many wide-open shots again in his career, and he has to take advantage of that now to develop into an elite shooter and provide this Sixers team with exactly what it needs.
Last season as a rookie, Edgecombe shot 35.4% from distance with Joel Embiid and Paul George in and out of the lineup and no natural facilitator to set him up. This year, he has LeBron James playing the point, an iron man in Jaylen Brown, and Embiid seemingly healthy and in great shape.
If Edgecombe can increase that percentage to 38% or better, he will keep defenses honest and have them second-guessing whether to send double teams or collapse into the paint because he will be ready to fire and make them pay.
His ability to stretch the floor within the flow of the offense will be critical to the Sixers reaching their ceiling on that side of the ball.
MORE: Sixers 2026-27 season preview
A natural byproduct of having fewer touches in the offensive ecosystem is that VJ Edgecombe should have more than enough energy to take on the challenge of guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player every night. Couple that with the fact that he has the youngest and freshest legs of anybody in the starting five by a considerable margin, and this is the exact type of challenge Edgecombe should invite.
Edgecombe has the length and athleticism to stay in front of perimeter ball handlers and the speed to recover if he gets blown by. He also has unabashed confidence in himself and will not let bad possessions or games deter him.
If Edgecombe can assume this role effectively, Tyrese Maxey can focus on the passing lanes, and Jaylen Brown can leverage his physical tools to be an off-ball roamer all the way into the paint.
Given LeBron's age and Joel Embiid's waning explosiveness, this approach affords the Sixers the best chance at having a sustainable defense.
It may seem far-fetched for a guard to lead his team in rebounding, but VJ Edgecombe's contributions on the boards could be what prevents the Sixers from being a poor rebounding team.
Joel Embiid does not have the consistent lift to crash the boards the way he once did, and the less banging around with the bigs that LeBron has to do, the better.
If Edgecombe is going to take on the aforementioned challenge of guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player, he will find himself in the right spots to secure long rebounds off jumpers and position himself in the paint off drives to nab the 50-50 balls.
Edgecombe averaged 5.6 rebounds per game as a rookie. Of the other four players in the Sixers' projected starting lineup, Joel Embiid pulled down the most rebounds per game last season, averaging 7.7.
If those numbers continue to decline as they have over the past couple of seasons, Edgecombe figures to be the main beneficiary.
The Sixers are going to need Edgecombe to be engaged, tenacious and unforgiving on the boards. Otherwise, they run the risk of giving up extra possessions and letting teams hang around that shouldn't.
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