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After successfully retaining their first-round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers had one mission: add athletic character fits with short and long-term potential.
An easy ask? No, not really, but then again, considering the team's current build, with three max contracts and a few question marks around them, what else are they to do? If the team went all in on the highest ceiling player, likely Tre Johnson out of Texas, his lack of defensive acumen could have proved disastrous in the playoffs.
And if they instead targeted the most NBA-ready prospect available at pick No. 3, Duke's Kon Knueppel, they may miss out on a quality player worth building around after their current core's expiration date. With Quentin Grimes and Guerschon Yabusele likely Philadelphia's biggest priorities in free agency, the team could, at best, fill out their roster with minimum contract players, many of whom likely won't be young or electrifying.
Fortunately, the 76ers were able to deftly ride that razor's edge and come away from the proceedings with not one, not two, but three interesting players, all of whom have both short and long-term upside the likes of which Daryl Morey was targeting. Though it may prove impossible to rate a draft class so soon after its selection, it's hard not to feel positive about the direction Philadelphia is heading.
76ers 1st round pick VJ Edgecombe – A+
VJ Edgecombe's path to the City of Brotherly Love was winding.
After watching Ace Bailey look like the favorite for months, the Baylor product slowly but surely worked his way up the team's internal board as the Rutgers forward fell, culminating in a visit with Daryl Morey and company that effectively punched his ticket to the No. 3 spot.
And yet, while Edgecombe was clearly going to be the pick at No. 3 if the 76ers took the pick, fans debated heavily whether they should go all-in on the pride of Bimini, The Bahamas, or if Morey would be better off to trade down in the pursuit of win now players at the expense of a decisive rookie addition.
In the end, the 76ers held pat, keeping the pick and getting their guy at No. 3 overall, and ultimately, that was the right call.
Standing 6-foot-4 with a massive wingspan, Edgecombe is the kind of athletic, two-way scoring guard Philadelphia has been after for years, with Zhaire Smith, Jaden Springer, and even Matisse Thybulle – to a degree – trying and failing to fit that mold. Like Springer and Thybulle, Edgecombe is a great defender who should be able to hold up in the playoffs as a rookie, but he's no slouch on offense either, with his high-flying game at Baylor one of the true highlights of the 2024-25 NCAA season.
Is Edgecombe a finished product? No, his shot developed over the course of his lone college season, and his handle isn't quite ready for prime time, which may force the rookie into a complementary role initially. And yet, Edgecombe is an NBA-caliber rotation player right now, with a Top 5 starter floor underneath a superstar ceiling. Edgecombe is the perfect combination of win-now floor and developmental ceiling, and for a team effectively stealing Golden State's two timelines strategy, that's as good as the team could have asked for in the first round.
76ers 2nd round pick Johni Broome – B+
While Edgecombe was more or less the expected pick at No. 3 for the month of June, who the 76ers would take in the second round was anything but guaranteed.
First and foremost, the 76ers actually kept the pick, which hasn't always been the case with second-rounders. The board also broke decently well for the 76ers, with a number of quality players still available at 35, even if some, like, St. Joseph's Rasheer Fleming, were already taken.
And with the 35th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the 76ers selected Johni Broome out of Auburn.
Now, unlike Edgecombe, this selection was anything but universally beloved, especially considering the Los Angeles Lakers traded up to take forward Adou Thiero with the very next pick. Broome famously had an underwhelming combine low-lighted by a brutal sub-25-inch vertical jump, and his verticality was questioned at Auburn too, alongside his alarming 60.3 career free-throw percentage.
Is Broome a modern-day backup big who can put up 3s at a high clip and play alongside any other frontcourt combo on the roster? No; playing Broome and Adem Bona would leave the team with a severe lack of spacing, as would a pairing with Andre Drummond. But Broome can play next to Joel Embiid, as “The Process” is one of the best outside shooting centers in the NBA.
Assuming Embiid is ready to play for opening night, the 76ers would be wise to help avoid subjecting their MVP-winning center to as much physical punishment as they can, limiting his dominance in the painted area – and the fouls that come with it – to fourth quarters and important key moments. Because Broome is a fantastic passer for his position, dishing out 2.9 dimes per game last season with an assist rate of 19.5, he can eat up those tough paint possessions and either go for his own shot or dish to a teammate, and even if he misses, he can still clean things up on the offensive glass, where he recorded 3.7 boards per game last season.
Is Broome a guaranteed star in the making? No, but as a backup big with four/five versatility, he has an ability to do a lot of dirty work next to and in place of Embiid, with the potential to become even better if he can become a good to very good 3-point shooter.
76ers UDFA Hunter Sallis – A
And last but not least, while the 76ers only drafted two players, they landed a third in UDFA Hunter Sallis, who could have a major glowup like other unheralded additions like Paul Reed or Justin Edwards in the past.
Standing 6-foot-5, Hunter Sallis was the guy for Wake Forest, averaging 18.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.8 steals as a 22-year-old senior. While his outside shot was a bit inconsistent, hitting 34.7 percent of his 3-pointers as a member of the Demon Deacons, he let fly almost half a dozen attempts per game versus 8.8 from inside the arc. Sallis had a positive offensive and defensive BPM in each of his four college seasons, and proved that he can play up or down a lineup between his run in North Carolina and at Gonzaga.
Is Sallis a guaranteed future NBA player? No, but he's a willing shooter and a quality defender, and should at the very least be a player worth watching in Delaware as he figures out his NBA fit.
