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Baylor's footprint across the NBA is wide this season, but the biggest story belongs to VJ Edgecombe — and it's only Week 1.

Edgecombe: Secured and Starring in Philly

The 76ers wasted no time making their intentions clear. Philadelphia picked up the third-year option on Edgecombe's rookie-scale contract well ahead of the October deadline — a move that required exactly zero deliberation after his promising freshman campaign. Now the sophomore guard is repaying that confidence with his best basketball yet.

On Saturday against Milwaukee, Edgecombe posted 17 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal across 29 minutes in a 127-116 Sixers win. Three days earlier, he contributed 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals in a 114-106 home-opener win over Cleveland — a game that also went viral for a different reason: LeBron James accidentally clocked Edgecombe in the nose going for a defensive rebound, leaving the second-year guard bloodied on the floor before he shook it off with characteristic good humor.

The optics of sharing a floor with James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey haven't all been smooth — some early offensive role compression is expected — but Edgecombe's motor and defensive presence have made him indispensable. He's starting alongside all four superstars, and the contract extension confirms the organization sees him as a long-term piece, not a placeholder.

George Filling Up the Stat Sheet in Utah

Keyonte George is doing his part to keep the Jazz watchable through another rebuild. The third-year guard dropped 19 points and 10 assists in Saturday's narrow 120-119 win over New Orleans and followed that with 22 points and 5 assists in Thursday's loss to Memphis. Through two games, George is consistently generating offense for a young Utah squad, and Jazz head coach Will Hardy has singled him out as a cornerstone of the team's developmental core alongside top picks Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey.

Missi: Brilliant Start, Brutal Break

The Yves Missi story arc moved fast — and not in the direction Pelicans fans were hoping. The 22-year-old center opened the season with a jaw-dropping line against Indiana: 13 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals in New Orleans' season opener. It was the kind of performance that announced a new starting center, not just a project.

Then came the injury. Missi was diagnosed with a left knee bone bruise and will miss an indefinite period of time, with no return timeline established. His final appearance of the week — just 6 points and 9 minutes in Saturday's one-point loss to Utah — was cut short by the ailment. For a Pelicans team still sorting out its Zion Williamson-adjacent lineup puzzles, losing Missi's rim protection and rebounding is a significant early blow.

Around the League

Davion Mitchell turned in a 22-point, 10-assist night for the Heat on Saturday. Taurean Prince suited up for Detroit after being listed as questionable with a personal matter. Adam Flagler, meanwhile, was cut by Sacramento and is now a free agent, with his G League rights held by Coachella Valley — a situation the Lakers are reportedly monitoring.

Two Baylor alumni dominated NBA headlines this week — one for a breakout season that hasn't happened yet, and another for a roster spot that vanished before the season even started.

VJ Edgecombe: Star Power, Star Controversy

The 76ers' second-year guard can't stop generating buzz, and not all of it is the kind Philadelphia's front office wants to see in October.

Edgecombe is already being tabbed as a breakout candidate for 2026-27 — and the résumé backs it up. The No. 3 overall pick out of Baylor averaged 16 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game as a rookie while shooting 51% from the field, per ClutchPoints. Now he's playing alongside LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, and Tyrese Maxey on what Philadelphia is openly calling a championship roster. The expectations are enormous, and Edgecombe has publicly embraced them — he previously declared a championship-or-bust mentality for the season.

That's what made his next comment land like a grenade.

During a media appearance, Edgecombe revealed that representing the Bahamas at the Olympics would mean more to him than winning an NBA championship. Former NBA champion Jason Williams went public with his criticism, arguing the statement was a bad look for a player on a team with title aspirations — and questioning how it would sound in the Sixers' locker room. Edgecombe has since pushed back, clarifying his role on the star-studded roster, but the controversy isn't going away quietly.

The optics are complicated. Edgecombe's national pride is understandable, and representing a small country on the Olympic stage carries weight that's hard to quantify. But on a roster constructed specifically to win now, with veterans who have traded leverage and comfort for a championship window, that kind of comment demands context — and Edgecombe is still learning how to navigate it.

Shawn Marion also weighed in on the broader Philadelphia situation this week, issuing a warning about whether the team's star-heavy roster can actually function cohesively with James and Embiid sharing the floor. Edgecombe, as a key piece of the roster alongside those superstars, sits at the center of that tension.

Jeremy Sochan: Gone Before Tip-Off

The other Baylor name making news this week had a far more abrupt storyline. Portland waived Jeremy Sochan — the No. 9 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft — just days before the Trail Blazers' 2026-27 season opener against the Phoenix Suns, per NBA insider Marc Stein.

Sochan, 23, had signed with Portland as a free agent after stints in San Antonio and New York. The move puts him back on the open market at an age when most former lottery picks are entering their prime — making it one of the more surprising roster decisions of the preseason. He'll now have to find a landing spot mid-week as rosters finalize and the regular season gets underway.

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For Baylor fans, the week offered a sharp contrast: one Bear generating star-level noise in Philadelphia, another searching for a phone call. Edgecombe's path forward is bright even if his comments stirred debate; Sochan's is suddenly uncertain. The 2026-27 NBA season is here, and both alumni enter it navigating very different kinds of pressure.

Two Baylor alumni are commanding attention in NBA preseason circles — and for very different reasons. VJ Edgecombe is thriving inside Philadelphia's new superteam infrastructure, while Yves Missi is carrying the weight of outsized defensive expectations in New Orleans.

Edgecombe: The Bear in the Room on Philly's Death Lineup

The Philadelphia 76ers unveiled their star-studded starting five — LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe — for the first time Thursday against the Brooklyn Nets, and the Baylor product looked right at home. James wasted no time christening the partnership, threading a no-look dime to Edgecombe early in the first quarter, a moment that quickly circulated across NBA social media.

Edgecombe's path to this moment has been fast. Among the top-nine picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, he carried one of the lowest collegiate usage rates — his pre-draft pitch was never about shot creation. But he erupted for 34 points in his NBA debut, and Gilbert Arenas has already publicly explained why Edgecombe's off-ball instincts make him a natural complement to a roster full of creators. An early preseason win over the reigning champion New York Knicks — 120-97, with Edgecombe and Jaylen Brown sharing the floor — added fuel to the belief that a real bromance is forming in the City of Brotherly Love.

Off the court, Edgecombe generated a different kind of headline. He stated publicly that representing the Bahamas at the Olympics would mean more to him than an NBA title — comments that raised eyebrows among some 76ers fans. He also quipped after his preseason debut alongside James that it was simply "different," a line that landed with reporters covering the team. The sophomore guard doesn't appear short on personality to match his game.

Missi: The Next Hakeem? Not So Fast — But Don't Sleep on It

The expectations surrounding Yves Missi in New Orleans are getting loud. The Pelicans — and Zion Williamson himself, who has reportedly witnessed the difference firsthand in practice — believe Missi has the tools to develop into a Hakeem Olajuwon-level Defensive Player of the Year candidate. That's a specific and enormous comp, but it reflects genuine organizational conviction in the Cameroonian center following a standout summer on the international stage.

The early returns, however, gave pause. Missi was widely described as disappointing in his preseason debut on Tuesday, a worrying sign for a player being asked to anchor the Pelicans' defensive identity. One underwhelming preseason outing shouldn't reframe the larger arc — Missi also drew attention during training camp for his rim-rattling athleticism, with teammates ranking him among the team's top dunking candidates — but it's a reminder that the gap between summer hype and October production is real.

For a Pelicans team still trying to build something durable around Williamson, Missi's development as a defensive anchor is not a luxury. It's central to their plan.

The Bigger Picture

Baylor's NBA pipeline has rarely looked deeper. Edgecombe is already a name-brand piece on one of the league's most-watched rosters. Missi is being asked to be a franchise cornerstone before his third season. Neither role is small, and neither player got there by accident. Waco has reason to watch October closely.