Hope you enjoy the extra report this week, if we get 5 likes on this one ill drop 2 on Sunday and it's going to be a Mock Draft Weekend, ahead of my Big Board update the Sunday after. The two next reports are on Asa Newell and Khaman Maluach, two of the Bigs in this draft that intrigue me the most.
Before reading this, I recommend reading my Tre Johnson report, these two link nicely together as two interchangeable guys in my big board. you also get a little chain of reasoning at the start for why I choose Tre Johnson over VJ Edgecombe.
But anyway enough yapping for today, here's the report.
Pros:
Defence/Passing Lanes
One of the things that translates the best to the NBA is defence, usually strong defenders in other leagues or college tend to be somewhat similar in the NBA, VJ Edgecombe definitely fits the bill as a strong defender. He is averaging 2.4 blocks (JAN 21st) and just under a block a game, amnd when you watch him his ability and smarts in the passing lanes really stand out. I feel like this is where those steals mostly come from, he reads passes very well and he is built well to play the passing lanes. He jumps high, feels like he has good reach although he has a 6'6 wingspan which isn't crazy for his height. But he just uses his athleticism and IQ in the lanes to get good steals, which helps him in offence which we will get to. Back to the defence, he is an above average on ball defender but he isn't going to absolutely shine out on that end, he is just good maybe a bit better than that at it and i'm sure he can build on that and turn it into something big about his game. He can get chase down blocks but again, he just uses his athleticism really well defensively, he's going to be a menace and elite passing lane player in the NBA
Catch and shoot three/off ball play
he shoots a very good % from the catch and shoot and I think he's a very good and able off ball guy, his movement isn't anything crazy but he gets to his spots comfortably, he is found by the guards open and he knocks down a good number of them. It's something he definitely has shown through high school to now so it seems to be a skill he has consistency with and something that should be good in the NBA, its probably the only thing about his shot that really impresses me.
Transition
he gets a ton of steals so he's able to get out in transition really easy and get easy shots. Due to his athleticism, he rarely gets stopped when moving in transition off steals. One thing I love when scouting prospects is players who can push pace. Pace is one of the best stats when looking at how effective an offence is so when I see prospects like VJ who get the ball out fast in transition and get easy shots for himself and his teammates, i'm going to like him.
Athleticism
Definitely one of the most athletic prospects we have, Posters, chase downs, put backs, the whole lot. So many highlight real moves. he has great speed and strong reactions. Any prospect with a high level of athleticism like VJ has is going to get a lot of attention from NBA scouts and is going to rank higher on a teams big board. He knows how to use the athleticism, that's evident with how many times i've already talked about his athleticism when writing this. I'd be surprised if this doesn't cause him to go really early.
Cons:
Moving shot
There are some prospects that you see who just can't develop a moving shot and never seem to work it out at the NBA level, they just don't understand it and have a mental block when trying to learn it. I think VJ is one of this guys, it's the way he is consistently short of the basket and the shot just doesn't seem to fall at all, now I don't think this necessarily a bad thing, I don't think VJ is going to be a primary option or ball handler, so he doesn't really need to be taking moving or pull up threes or moving shots when he's in the NBA, obviously he is a wing and you really like to have wings who can be a ball handler for your team but he can still be effective on offence without that. And VJ seems to realise that as he shoots a pretty low volume on pull up and moving shots and I really appreciate the awareness on that. obviously you don't want him to be scared away from taking any, that would be a really bad negative but to have him tweak his shot diet to avoid that would be important.
Cold start- VJ has started to heat up from three, but he started off with a bunch of problems from three. Now I really hate players that need time to heat up, now if he can be consistent for the rest of the year, I probably wouldn't complain about this. Effectively, I want to see if he is a streaky shooter or not.
Self Creation
VJ has got the atheleticism to create a shot at the basket and the speed to get separation but he doesn't seem to strong and he doesn't have a very deep bag of handles. I would really like him to expand his bag and become a creator, this is probably the biggest swing factor, if he can start creating shots for him and his teammates and a consistent level, I can definitely see him being used as a ball handler, but that moving jumper is what is really going to decide wether VJ Is going to have a large ball handling duty, a 1st option with the ball.
Interesting factor:
Defensive Menace
One of the biggest continuity points for the best teams in the NBA has been strong defensive players and VJ edgecombe is going to supply that for you. VJ edgecombe is going to be a premier defensive wing at the next level, going to grab a bunch of steals and I think it would be a great idea for a top team to invest in a player who I think is going to be very important to a team in transition to competing to take a type of guy like this. Now a tanking team could really help develop the offence, but I much prefer him to impact a young team with some competitive ambitions going into next year or a team who had a bad season but should be competitive next year
Conclusion:
Prospect ceiling: Perennial all star/Occasional all NBA
Pick Range: 4-12
NBA Comp: Larry Hughes, could see a bit of Victor Oladipo or Kris Dunn
Best Fits: -
Charlotte
Brooklyn
Golden State