Nobody saw the Philadelphia 76ers knocking off the Boston Celtics in the 2025 playoffs. But the real surprise wasn’t just the upset — it was how much of the heavy lifting came from a rookie.
VJ Edgecombe arrived in the NBA as a 19-year-old out of Baylor with a reputation for defense and questions about his jumper. By the time the Sixers closed out that first-round series, those questions had started to look dated. The former Baylor guard shot over 35% from three on 5.6 attempts per game, a major jump from his college numbers. He turned into a transition nightmare for opposing defenses. And in the half-court, his game began to round into something dangerous.
This is why when Doc Rivers went on The Bill Simmons Podcast recently, he didn’t hold back.
“Edgecombe has a chance to be really good,” Rivers said. “Cause he has the makeup, and I think having Maxey around him.”
The former 76ers head coach, now working as an analyst, doubled down on what makes the rookie special. “His edge,” Rivers added. “I don’t know how good he’ll be offensively — he’s ahead of where I thought he was already — but he’s gonna be an elite defensive player in the NBA. Elite. That’s coming.”
That last part matters because defense is where Edgecombe already stands apart. He has the lateral quickness, the instincts, and the length to bother guards at the point of attack. What he still needs is added size and better off-ball awareness — both fixable with NBA strength and conditioning programs. The raw tools are already there to make him a nightly nuisance.
The offensive side is more of a mixed bag, but the trajectory is encouraging. Edgecombe didn’t win Rookie of the Year in 2025-26, and he wasn’t the flashiest first-year player in the class. What he did was improve steadily, show up in the biggest moments of a playoff series, and earn the trust of a coaching staff that had Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George on the floor.
Rivers’ endorsement carries weight because he coached against Edgecombe in practice and saw him up close during the regular season. The compliment about Maxey being around him isn’t casual either — it suggests the Sixers have found a backcourt pairing that could define the next half-decade.
Philadelphia’s future suddenly looks a lot less dependent on Embiid’s health than it did twelve months ago. If Edgecombe keeps developing at this pace, the Celtics series might end up being remembered as the night a star announced himself — not just a feel-good upstart story.
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