76ers select VJ Edgecombe at No. 3; Ace Bailey falls to Jazz - ESPN

After a disastrous season where Joel Embiid only played a handful of games before needing knee surgery, Philadelphia's reward was getting the third pick in Wednesday night's NBA draft, which they used to select Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe.

Edgecombe, who was part of the Bahamian national team last summer alongside multiple current NBA players, is an explosive 19-year-old guard who could be a long term complement to All-Star Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia's backcourt.

The 76ers' pick nearly went to the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder as part of the Al Horford-Danny Green swap five years ago, but it had a top-6 protection, letting the Sixers retain it.

Meanwhile, Ace Bailey — projected for most of the season as the third pick — ended up falling to the Utah Jazz at No. 5. The Rutgers star had a chaotic pre-draft process that included canceling a meeting with the Sixers.

Austin Ainge, president of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz, told ESPN that the Jazz «really like Ace Bailey as a player and a fit in our program.»

Bailey's teammate at Rutgers, Dylan Harper, went to the San Antonio Spurs with the No. 2 pick while Cooper Flagg was drafted No. 1 overall to the Mavericks, as expected.

At No. 4 the Charlotte selected Kon Knueppel out of Duke, a sweet-shooting guard who should help a Hornets team that struggled to hit catch-and-shoot 3s. The Wizards selected Tre Johnson, who led all Division I freshmen with 19.9 points per game last year at Texas, with the No. 6 pick.

At No. 7, the New Orleans Pelicans picked Jeremiah Fears out of Oklahoma while the Brooklyn Nets took 6-foot-8 guard Egor Demin out of BYU with the No. 8 pick.

The Toronto Raptors selected forward Collin Murray-Boyles next and the Phoenix Suns rounded out the