Sixers news: Philly drafts Auburn's Johni Broome; Rasheer Fleming goes to Suns; VJ Edgecombe gets a new number

The second round of the NBA Draft started off with St. Joe’s center Rasheer Fleming being the first name off the board at 31st overall to the Phoenix Suns.

What are the Suns getting out of the St. Joe’s junior?

“First off, just so much effort, regardless if anything goes wrong, if I’m not making shots, which I doubt, you’re going to get a lot of effort out of me,” Fleming told ESPN. “I’m going to continue to play hard regardless.”

The second round of the NBA draft has officially begun, and St. Joe’s forward Rasheer Fleming was the first man off the board, going 31st overall to the Phoenix Suns.

What are the Suns getting out of the St. Joe’s sophomore?

“First off, just so much effort, regardless if anything goes wrong, if I’m not making shots, which I doubt, you’re going to get a lot of effort out of me,” Fleming told ESPN. “I’m going to continue to play hard regardless.”

The Sixers have a long history of passing on local players. Could they buck that trend tonight and take St. Joseph's Rasheer Fleming?

The Camden product and St. Joe's star was once a zero star. Now he's a college veteran on the brink of making his NBA dreams come true.

That list of circumstances would make for the perfect Philly story. But there's no guarantee that Fleming, who is in the range of the Sixers' No. 35 pick in the second round of the 2025 NBA draft, will land in Philly.

After drafting Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe with the third overall pick in the first round, the Sixers are back on the clock tonight with the 35th overall pick in the NBA draft.

If fans weren’t thinking about tuning in, we recommend you reconsider.

Second-round picks have developed into some of the biggest stars in the league in recent years. In 2012, Draymond Green was selected with the No. 35 overall pick by the Golden State Warriors, where the four-time All-Star played a crucial role in winning four championships with the team (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022).

The No. 35 pick is a valuable asset in the draft range in which this front office has had success previously. Adem Bona was a second-round selection last year and before that, Isaiah Joe and Paul Reed were picked there.

Here are the prospects recently projected as candidates in prominent mock drafts, as well as some other possibilities to know:

Chaz Lanier, Tennessee, guard

With the third overall pick in the first round, the Sixers selected former Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe. The 6-foot-4 player will join a room full of young guards, including Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxey. Here’s how some of the experts are grading the pick.

Yahoo Sports loved the choice from the Sixers, saying it “makes total sense.” The outlet gave the team an A- grading for the night.

“He pairs his elite athleticism with a knockdown, spot-up jumper and fearless slashing,” said Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports. “Though he needs to improve his shot creation to become more of a primary creator, the Sixers have enough in that department as is, so Edgecombe should get time to develop on his own timeline.”

With Rutgers star Ace Bailey on the board Wednesday night, the Sixers easily could have gotten caught up in the same dream as the rest of the draft industrial complex.

They could have focused on the prototypical frame, and the projectable athleticism, and the 10 percent of the time when those things combined to make him look like a future NBA star. Bailey made it easy on the Sixers, refusing to meet with them or any other NBA team in hopes of landing somewhere that could offer him unfettered shot volume. There were already questions about how a player who has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant couldn’t lead his college team to a winning season — let alone a tournament run — while playing alongside another Top 5 pick in Dylan Harper. After watching how Bailey and his handlers dealt with their perspective employers during the run-up to the draft, the questions about Rutgers’ losing didn’t seem so mysterious.

VJ Edgecombe offered a dramatic contrast. While he plays much bigger and stronger than his 6-foot-4 frame, and has a good wingspan and standing reach that should enable him to hold his own at multiple positions, he does not have Bailey’s outlier length, nor his shot-making upside. But he has plenty of potential to go with the instincts and two-way toughness he displayed at Baylor. Comps are difficult with players this young. ESPN’s Jay Bilas mentioned Victor Oladipo and Dwayne Wade. Stylistically, I see his ceiling more like Jaylen Brown in Josh Hart’s frame. The important thing is that he has All-Star potential, and that, even if he does not reach his ceiling, his mentality will at least render him a winning player on a winning team.

Unless Daryl Morey makes a deal, the Sixers will draft at the top of the second round of the NBA draft tonight.

The Sixers have the No. 35 pick, though don't expect the team to land some game-changing prospect. The most notable second-round pick the Sixers have landed in recent years was Paul Reed, who lasted four seasons with the team and actually started 24 games during the 2023-24 season before signing with the Detroit Pistons.

Last year, Philly used their second-round pick to draft former UCLA big man Adem Bona, who saw a fair amount of playing time last season for the tanking Sixers.

Sixers forward Paul George on his Podcast P with Paul George:

"He showed tremendous upside and when he played with Bahamas, he's competing and playing against top talent and he's dunking on them, he's blowing by them. He was making a impact... To me he's kind of like Jimmy Butler – just a dog, plays hard, plays both ends, and just has that toughness about him."

The Ringer's Bill Simmons

The 76ers stayed put at No. 3 in the NBA draft on Wednesday night, using the third pick to select Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe.

Edgecombe, a 19-year-old native of the Bahamas, became the fourth guard drafted and kept by the Sixers in recent years, with Tyrese Maxey joining the franchise as the 21st pick in 2020. The following year, the Sixers selected Jaden Springer at No. 28, and they chose Jared McCain with the 16th pick last summer.

The Sixers selected power forward David Roddy at No. 23 in 2022 before immediately shipping him to the Memphis Grizzlies. They didn’t have any draft picks in 2023.