The Philadelphia 76ers entered the 2025-26 season with so much uncertainty. But one thing's for sure: this 76ers team won't be anything like they were last year, injury problems notwithstanding. On Monday night, the 76ers scored their third consecutive win to begin the year, defeating the Orlando Magic, 136-124, despite being without Joel Embiid and Paul George. Without those two veterans, the onus was on Tyrese Maxey to lead the way, and lead he did — finishing with 43 points and eight assists on 15-32 shooting from the field.
Maxey has been on a heater to begin the year, and he's looking like the 76ers' undisputed best player in the process. He's averaging 37 points through the first three games of the campaign, and he's playing as though he wants to erase the memories of their nightmare 2024-25 campaign completely.
And with burgeoning rookie VJ Edgecombe coming into his own this quickly alongside Maxey in the 76ers backcourt, there's no better star in the NBA to mentor the third overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.
“Super fun guy to play with. It's a must win every night [with Tyrese]. Got to go out there and win, man. He's elite, man. He's a real leader. Credit to Tyrese,” Edgecombe said in his postgame interview, via the official 76ers account on X (formerly Twitter).
"He's elite, man. He's a real leader. Credit to Tyrese" –@vj_edgecombe on sharing a backcourt with @TyreseMaxey @PennMedicine pic.twitter.com/2plVIqO5fO
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 28, 2025
Maxey appears to be finding the optimal balance between being aggressive with scoring the basketball and allowing his teammates to help him out. Edgecombe has been very capable, as evidenced by his 25 points per game average to start his career, and they haven't been eating into each other's touches — learning how to play alongside each other quite quickly.
The 76ers have their backcourt of the future, and the incredible play of the Maxey-Edgecombe duo should allow Philly to bring Embiid and George along more slowly.
76ers' VJ Edgecombe is the early Rookie of the Year favorite
With the third pick, the 76ers were reportedly deciding on Edgecombe or Ace Bailey. Bailey was originally mocked to go third, but some off-court issues and his refusal to work out for teams sullied his stock. This ended up being a huge blessing in disguise for the 76ers, as Edgecombe has far and away been the best rookie of his class thus far.
Edgecombe looks like a seasoned veteran already, and he's just in his third career game. Meanwhile, Cooper Flagg went just 1-9 in the Dallas Mavericks' loss on Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Ace Bailey is languishing in the Utah Jazz bench.
