Analyzing VJ Edgecombe's fit with the Charlotte Hornets

A quick look at one of the draft's most intriguing prospects and how he'd fit in Charlotte.

Chris Jones-Imagn Images

There's a clear hierarchy being established at the top of the 2025 NBA Draft. At its peak is Cooper Flagg, the do-it-all power forward that will walk onto any NBA team, into any coach's system, with any teammates, and fit like a glove. Just below him is Dylan Harper, the crafty Rutgers point guard who possess ludicrous finishing abilities that force me to rewind his games every couple of minutes. The final member of the top tier is Ace Bailey, the elite bucket-getter from Rutgers that arguably possesses the highest two-way ceiling in the class.

As it stands, the Charlotte Hornets have the fourth-worst record in basketball, and if the lottery balls fall in line, they will miss out on one of the draft's "big three." However, chaos reigns on lottery night and the Hornets could land anywhere between one and seven, but let's assume they stick in their current position and miss out on Flagg, Harper, and Bailey.

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

The most popular selection you see in many early spring NBA mock drafts is the Hornets drafting Baylor's VJ Edgecombe. Consider this an early 30,000-foot look at Edgecombe's game and how he would fit with Charlotte's current group.

Analyzing Edgecombe's fit with the Hornets

Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Edgecombe has two main calling cards: gravity-defying athleticism and versatile defensive skills.

Players aren’t supposed to move like VJ Edgecombe does.

The burst, explosion, fluidity, etc.

Such an awesome player that is only continuing to get better. pic.twitter.com/svq6Xuf3J5

— Matt Hanifan (@mph_824_) February 18, 2025

It's easy to picture Edgecombe running the wing alongside LaMelo Ball. His verticality makes him a lob threat in transition, but his much improved shooting stroke multiples the challenges he poses to opposing defenses on the break. Edgecombe is shooting 36% from three as a college freshman, a number that has steadily climbed after a rough start to his Baylor career.

He lacks the requisite handle and wiggle to run a high-functioning offense as a primary creator, but as a floor-spacer, cutter, and interior-finisher, Edgecombe projects as a perfect fit between Ball and Brandon Miller, Charlotte's two offensive initiators. However, those creation skills are improving from week-to-week just like his jumper.

Edgecombe possesses the types of defensive traits that Charles Lee and Jeff Peterson covet. He's competitive, agile, and he's not afraid to get into the shorts of opposing ball handlers. Lee and Peterson have made a habit of acquiring wings with some combination of defensive acumen, tools, and dogged effort (Josh Green, Josh Okogie, and Tidjane Salaün come to mind), and Edgecombe is cut from the same cloth.

The freshman star is averaging 2.1 steals and nearly a block per game, but traditional stats and the eye test only tell part of the story. Advanced statistics (EvanMiya's DBPR and Box DPR) grade him out as a top three freshman wing defender in college basketball.

In all, Edgecombe oozes Hornets DNA. His level of competitiveness hardly wavers from night-to-night, and his standing as a big-time contributor as a freshman with oceans of projectable room to grow make him one of the draft's most coveted high-floor, high-ceiling prospects. When parsing Edgecombe's potential NBA impact, think Victor Oladipo or a working class man's Anthony Edwards or Donovan Mitchell.

The on-ball creation is the swing skill that will ultimately decide which end of the Oladipo to Mitchell pendulum Edgecombe lands on, but the current traits make him the type of player that could be on the floor down the stretch of a hypothetical playoff game, an archetype that the Hornets can not acquire enough of at this point.

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