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After spending the spring and summer pushing to see Ace Bailey be drafted as high as possible in the 2025 NBA Draft, Paul George has a new teammate on the Philadelphia 76ers: VJ Edgecombe.
That's right, despite his heavy endorsements, Daryl Morey and company decided that Edgecombe was a better fit in Nick Nurse's scheme than the pride of Rutgers, and in his first – and to this point only – Summer League game, that opinion was vindicated to the tune of a 28-10 double-double against Bailey and the Utah Jazz.
Could there be some hurt feelings in George over the 76ers taking things in a different direction? Maybe deep down, but on his namesake show, Podcast P with Paul George, the max contract player had some nice things to say about his new teammate, too, noting that Edgecombe looked every bit like a future star.
“I thought he looked good. I thought he looked good on both ends of the floor. It's dope to see the difference between college and NBA with spacing. Because, you know, he was able to get to his midi. He was able to see space on the floor. He was spacing behind the 3-point line. He was attacking in transition. Like there's just so much space for guys when you cross over from college to the NBA,” George explained.
“And I thought he put it all out on display. He showed flashes of stardom. I love the poise and patience in the pick and roll. That's not something that comes natural, especially for young guys that aren't point guards. I saw him reading when to come off fast. Kind of hesi off of the pick and roll. Getting downhill, he's got his little Patton one-two spin turnaround jumper. There was just a lot of poise-ness around him. I thought he had a great showing. Like enough for Philly to shut him down, the rest of the summer league.”
Pretty high praise, right? Well George wasn't done. No, he took things a step forward, noting that Edgecombe has “that dog in him” in a way reminiscent of another 76ers legend: Jimmy Butler.
“He got that dog in him. Watching him, it was like watching a young Jimmy,” George declared. “He moves like Jimmy. Kind of has that mid-range tenacity. He's kind of got a lot of the Jimmy likeness to him, so he's definitely going to be good.”
While Edgecombe is a tad shorter than Butler, who stands 6-foot-7 to the rookie's 6-foot-5, the duo are both hard-working overachievers who have done everything in their power to become NBA players despite their meager beginnings. If Edgecombe can develop his game in the same way Butler did before him, the future will be incredibly bright in Philadelphia.
"VJ showed flashes of stardom."
PG was impressed by new teammate VJ Edgecombe's Summer League debut 👀 pic.twitter.com/O92IuasW03
— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) July 10, 2025
