For most of the past year, Duke forward Cooper Flagg, Rutgers guard Dylan Harper and Rutgers forward Ace Bailey were widely considered to be the top three prospects in the 2025 NBA draft class. The top of the draft board held to form Wednesday night, as the Dallas Mavericks took Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, and the San Antonio Spurs selected Harper at No. 2. However, the Philadelphia 76ers deviated at No. 3 and took Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe ahead of Bailey.

Right after the draft lottery in mid-May, ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo projected the Sixers to take Bailey at No. 3 rather than Edgecombe. But as the draft drew closer, it became increasingly clear that Edgecombe was their guy.

After the first round of the draft Wednesday, team president Daryl Morey explained what drew the Sixers toward Edgecombe rather than Bailey.

"Above and beyond what you can see on the floor, the thing we spend a lot of time on—and I will say, it's very hard to forecast with 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds," Morey told reporters. "We don't think we have some crystal ball. But where we can get more confidence that a player has two things, which is they understand that they're not where they need to be. They understand they're not yet, you know, pick your All-Star guard in the league. And then they have the work ethic to close that gap. If a player has that, that's very interesting to us."

Edgecombe spent only one season at Baylor, but he took a clear leap as the season progressed. He started the year by making his mark defensively—he averaged 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks over his first 10 games—and then he grew more aggressive on offense from there.

While he still has some work to do on improving his ball-handling and pull-up shooting, Morey believes his athleticism and off-the-catch shooting ability gives him both a high floor and a high ceiling. Morey specifically referenced Edgecombe's fit with All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey as a big selling point in his favor.

"Just fit-wise, I think the good thing is Tyrese has high basketball IQ," he said. “He understands that those two complement each other very well. In terms of like, VJ’s gonna be able to guard multiple positions, probably take the toughest assignment. Maybe not day one, but in his career. And then Tyrese and him really play off of each other well [on offense]."

That two-way ability might have helped him gain separation on Bailey, who has the physical tools to be an elite defender but wasn’t always engaged on that end of the floor. Bailey’s attitude also might have rubbed the Sixers the wrong way. Morey said that Bailey’s decision to abruptly cancel his predraft workout at the last minute didn’t factor into their choice, but his reported desire to find "a clear path to stardom" (via Givony and ESPN's Shams Charania) differed greatly from Edgecombe's attitude on draft night.

"Whatever Coach needs me to do, I'm gonna go do," Edgecombe said. "If it requires me coming off the bench, if it requires me starting, playing alongside both Maxey and [Jared] McCain, playing with one of them at the same time, it don't matter. I'm just going there to play. Like I said, whatever Coach Nurse needs me to do, I'm gonna do it."

With Maxey, Joel Embiid and Paul George all in the fold, the Sixers didn't necessarily need a high-usage, shot-hunting player. Bailey might have a higher ceiling than Edgecombe if he hits his 100% outcome, but he also may have a much lower floor. Edgecombe's well-documented work ethic and willingness to fill any role asked of him should help him carve out a niche in the NBA, even if he doesn't eventually develop into an All-Star.

The Sixers may now have a positional logjam to sort out, particularly if they're able to re-sign soon-to-be restricted free agent Quentin Grimes. Both Maxey and McCain are listed at 6'2", while Edgecombe is 6'4" and Grimes is 6'5". Head coach Nick Nurse figures to rotate all four and try three-guard lineups, but the 6'7½" Bailey would have filled a bigger need positionally.

However, Morey didn't appear too worried about that on draft night. In fact, he thinks having that much depth in the backcourt could be a major strength for the Sixers.

"I think we'll have one of the best backcourts in the league with Grimes and Maxey and Jared McCain and now VJ," he said. "I do think the way the NBA is going, I think you saw some of these teams playing dynamic, uptempo, with multiple guards that put the defense in jeopardy."

The Indiana Pacers just came within one game of winning this year's championship with Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard starting in the same backcourt together, although both of them are 6'5" rather than 6'2". Still, teams can never have too many versatile, athletic guards in this day and age, particularly ones who can make an impact on both ends of the floor like Edgecombe can.

Morey did say that Edgecombe needs to improve his finishing around the basket, although he cited veteran guard Eric Gordon as someone who could help him in that regard.

"I think someone like Eric, who took a big leap in finishing by working on his craft, his footwork, his timing, his takeoff points, he really improved that in the early parts of his career," Morey said. "But [Edgecombe] has that base athleticism, physical tools and the work ethic that you see he could grow into that."

If Bailey turns into a two-way star in Utah, the Sixers could grow to regret passing on him. But given everything they know about Edgecombe’s character, work ethic and two-way impact, they appear confident in their decision to gamble on his floor/ceiling mix instead.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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