After Brandon Marsh helped him find a glove, Sixers No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe began having a catch with a television host interviewing him. He looked like he knew what he was doing. Has he played baseball before?

"Yeah, I did," Edgecombe said. "I played baseball growing up. It's a sport I played just for the fun of it. I love baseball. It's been a long time since I played... [I played] second base and outfield."

First it was special assistant Howie Kendrick. Marsh stopped by multiple times. Nick Castellanos had some words of encouragement for Edgecombe, and later on the 20-year-old had an extended conversation with Alec Bohm, the only other person around of a similar height:

Once Edgecombe was done greeting some of his Philadelphia sports cohorts, he spoke with PhillyVoice about his goals for his upcoming rookie season in the NBA, his offseason work, budding bonds with Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain plus much more. 

Edgecombe and his teammates will not officially convene for Media Day, training camp and a preseason trip to Abu Dhabi for another four weeks or so. But he has gotten plenty of work in with his teammates, both at the team's practice facility in Camden, N.J. and in Los Angeles where Sixers assistant coach Rico Hines holds runs full of NBA talent.

Among the players Edgecombe has worked with: Tyrese Maxey, Trendon Watford, Jared McCain, Justin Edwards and Jabari Walker. Developing chemistry with as many teammates as possible is something Edgecombe believes will pay dividends moving forward, he said.

"It'll help a lot. Basketball's a team sport. We're all going to be out there together, playing for each other," Edgecombe said. "We just want to stay connected as much as possible. It goes a long way. We just want to stay connected as a team."

Maxey is taking ownership of his role as the leader of the Sixers' youth movement. He is turning 25 years old in a few months and is set to begin his sixth NBA season, but Maxey is the clear centerpiece of the organization's longer-term ambitions. He will need players like Edgecombe to reach their potential to help him down the line. Many recent Sixers youngsters have lauded Maxey's leadership skills. What has Edgecombe experienced?

"He's a great person, man," Edgecombe said. "Like they said, he's a leader. That's true. He's a real leader, someone that's just looking forward to getting better every day in the gym. He helps us out, [answers] questions, all that. It's been great... getting to know him as a person."

Minutes after he was drafted by the Sixers in June, Edgecombe proudly beamed talking about the concept of Maxey being his backcourt mate for years to come and the two of them hopefully retiring as Sixers together. The Sixers' three most important young players -- Edgecombe, Maxey and McCain -- are all guards. Edgecombe and McCain knew each other from Edgecombe's recruiting visit at Duke and grew closer in Las Vegas during the 2025 NBA Summer League. While McCain and Edgecombe are closer in age and experience to each other than they are to Maxey -- just a year apart -- all three players have the opportunity to grow together.

"I'm super excited. They're great players, but they're even better people," Edgecombe said. "They have great heart, great personality, so I'm definitely looking forward to growing with them, continuing to get better, just looking forward to winning. Keep building the bond, brotherhood, chemistry."

McCain only has 23 NBA games under his belt and Edgecombe has never stepped on an NBA court. But because they are both guards on a team set to pay Maxey over $168 million over the next four years, there is already a lot of speculation about whether there is an eventual odd man out or if head coach Nick Nurse can devise a scheme creative enough for all three guards to coexist (with restricted free agent Quentin Grimes likely to join the mix as well).

Edgecombe did not get into specifics about his offseason work -- "literally just trying to get better in all aspects of my game" were his exact words when asked which skills he was focused on developing over the summer" -- and he did not show much interest in discussing the makeup of his eventual role with the Sixers. He said he still does not know what it will look like because his conversations with Nurse have not been about basketball.

"He just cares about my well-being," Edgecombe said. "That's the main thing we've talked about. Just wondering how am I doing as a person after being drafted, stuff like that. That's the main thing. We haven't been talking about basketball or what my role would be or what expectations he has for me."

One way for Edgecombe to secure a more significant workload on a guard-heavy team is proving capable of defending above his size. If Edgecombe can be the biggest of three guards on the floor at one time without the Sixers becoming vulnerable defensively, he has a path to major minutes right away. Edgecombe has not paid much thought to the possibility of guarding NBA wings.

An early takeaway from Edgecombe's interviews and media availabilities since joining the Sixers: he has so much confidence in his abilities that he never worries about not being up for a task. The idea of playing alongside two other guards is not an exception to that rule.

"I'm comfortable with whatever Coach Nurse wants me to do. I'll do it. It's as plain and simple as that," Edgecombe said. "Whatever he needs me to do, I'm going to go out there and do it. Just play my hardest, give my max potential, best I can. Three-guard lineups, two-guard lineups, it doesn't matter. I'm just happy to be on the floor. I'm looking forward to competing."

• MORE VJ EDGECOMBE
• Sixers mailbag: How important can VJ Edgecombe be as a rookie?
  
• Observations from VJ Edgecombe's Las Vegas Summer League debut
• Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe, Sixers' youngest building blocks, growing close: 'I'm excited to play with him'
  

Speaking of competing, there is some irony in this: Edgecombe's competition for the fourth guard spot in Nurse's rotation -- assuming Grimes returns -- will be Eric Gordon.

Gordon is a mentor of sorts for Edgecombe, as the two played together for Team Bahamas. Edgecombe laughed when reminded of his comment on draft night -- "EG is old, man," he said at the time -- before raving about why Gordon remaining with the Sixers this summer excited him.

"Just how great of a person and how great of a vet he is," Edgecombe said. "He helped me with Team Bahamas, he helped me a lot. And that's someone I'm definitely looking forward to being on the same team with again... He's a great vet, so I'm definitely looking forward to learning from him."

Edgecombe's aforementioned confidence in his abilities is unflappable, but it does not necessarily translate to arrogance. He knows he will have to learn a lot to reach the heights those talents could take him. He hopes to do a lot of learning on a roster featuring a mix of veterans who have seen it all and young players who have recently been in the spot he finds himself in now.

"They all have been in my shoes. They all were once rookies. They all had vets. So I'm just looking forward to being a part of the team," Edgecombe said. "[Tyrese] and Jared are obviously younger, we're all going to share similar experiences. I'm just looking forward to learning. They're going to give me advice, what to do and what not to do, how to be a better pro, whatever it is. I'm just looking to soaking all the advice in as much as I can."

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There is so much coming for Edgecombe. Many years of NBA basketball are in his future. There will be triumphs and hardships. His noticeable intensity will help him endear himself to Philadelphia fans, but those same people will inevitably grow frustrated at a poor stretch of games or a blown assignment.

For now, he is an exciting young prospect whose presence signals some hope. And when legendary Phillies public address announcer Dan Baker bellowed his name as he walked out to the mound, it was the first time Edgecombe appeared in front of a crowd in Philadelphia.

Edgecombe heard a lot about Philadelphia fans. Now, he has heard a lot from Philadelphia fans. He is ready for more.

"Philly [has] great people, great fans," Edgecombe said. "I'm looking forward to celebrating with them, looking forward to getting to know fans, getting to know why they're so passionate and stuff like that."

Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdam