VJ Edgecombe scored 26 points and put together a bundle of highlight reel plays in the Sixers‘ preseason finale vs. Minnesota, helping lead the Sixers to a 126-110 win in Joel Embiid’s return to the floor.

Here’s what I saw.

The big man’s return

Joel Embiid needed all of seven seconds to get his first shot of the game up, a pull-up three that he missed after Adem Bona won the jump ball. Back to business as usual, right?

Not so much. It was a decidedly…weird debut for Embiid. The isolation king had seven first-half assists, with two or three of those coming on long, lofted outlet passes the likes of which he rarely throws. He was behind both Maxey and Edgecombe in shot attempts, serving as more of a passing hub than a dominant scoring threat. That didn’t always pay off for Embiid, who had two turnovers on bounce-pass attempts to cutters, but it fit the description of how Nick Nurse wants this offense to look. Philadelphia shared the ball, kept everyone involved, and transferred that offensive energy to the other end of the floor.

To be clear, I think that’s a great thing! Embiid rejoining the lineup and finding his place within the machine is a lot better than the various parts working toward two totally separate goals depending on who is in the lineup. But it’s going to require time, adjustment, and give-and-take understanding from both sides to make it work at the highest levels.

Defense is where I think you usually see the big man’s strength and conditioning speak the loudest, and it was a mixed bag there at times. In the opening stretch of the game, he proved light on his feet and in pursuit of the ball, with the big man marching into halftime with three first-half steals. Playing a mobile big next to him for all of his minutes should help mitigate many concerns about his burst. But there were also some relatively concerning moments while he was defending in space. Rocco Zikarsky blew by him for a second-quarter layup, and with all due respect, that’s a sight that makes you question whether Embiid is showing wear-and-tear or simply coasting for a possession in the middle of a preseason game. Time will tell.

There was a piece of Friday’s game that rates as both the most important and the most concerning thing simultaneously — I did not see any sense of hesitation from Embiid on the offensive end. Watching him last season, he was noticeably hesitant whenever he needed to rely on using his left knee to plant and explode, which led to lesser players making him look human. On Friday, Embiid hit drag steps, hang-dribble moves in transition, and he had a few moments of downhill attacking after turning the corner against a loose closeout. That seems great for his state of mind and his confidence in the knee. But the PTSD came rushing back during a few of those sequences, and you’re reminded of how fragile it all is for the most important guy on their roster.

What comes next is arguably more important than what we saw on the floor. It wasn’t a big minute night for Embiid, but how does his knee and body respond after his first action against hostile competition in a while?

Edgecombe Airlines

One thing was striking about watching Philadelphia on Friday night — this is not the slow, methodical group of years past. Yes, they were playing a shorthanded team in the second half of a back-to-back. But the Sixers made a deliberate choice to go younger and more athletic this summer, and you can already feel it building a core part of their identity.

VJ Edgecombe has a chance to be the face of that shift, and he was everywhere in the first half of Friday night’s game against Minnesota. Edgecombe had three first-half steals zipping into passing lanes and blowing up plays as a roamer, barely thinking before sprinting up the floor to provide his teammates with an outlet. He repeatedly scored on cuts, with Tyrese Maxey constantly searching for his backcourt partner going backdoor for a layup or a dunk.

Edgecombe only grew in stature as we got deeper in this game. After a rough start from beyond the arc, Edgecombe splashed a catch-and-shoot three in the third quarter and made a much more audacious three in the fourth, picking up a loose ball and unleashing a tough jumper while fading into the right corner. Cash money.

One of the running themes of the preseason has been teammates and coaches highlighting Edgecombe playing hard as a skill. That showed up across all four quarters of this game, with Edgecombe harassing the Wolves and outrunning (or jumping) them until his final shift had ended. In his first game in Philadelphia since joining the team, Edgecombe received a loud ovation when he checked out for the final time, having quickly earned the respect of local hoops heads.

And that was just one piece of the puzzle. Adem Bona got a surprise start in Friday’s game, with Nurse opting to spend most of the first half playing two genuine frontcourt players together. There are some challenges there — like proper floor spacing, or Bona’s tendency to foul in space — but it adds some jet fuel to the Sixers on defense and the glass. Dominick Barlow also continued a pretty impressive preseason run, pursuing just about every offensive rebound and drawing Wolves defenders along with him. I can’t recall the last time before Friday night that two different Sixers went up for a putback dunk at the same time, as Barlow and Bona did in the second quarter.

With all of these athletes available to Nurse, there is clearly a mandate to run. Tyrese Maxey got a handful of easy buckets by beating Minnesota down the floor, and there was a beautiful moment in the first half where a Bona block turned into a Maxey outlet pass for a two-handed slam by Edgecombe:

To me, this is a reason to tune in and watch this group, even if Embiid and George are injured and/or ineffective. Last year, Philadelphia’s identity was essentially, “Pray that Embiid is good enough to save us.” Things are not so binary heading into this season.

Getting Maxey off the ball

It was VJ Edgecombe, not Tyrese Maxey, who was introduced first. Is that treating him as the point guard of the team, or just a meaningless preseason quirk?

Regardless, the Sixers are absolutely making an effort to get Maxey off-ball and take advantage of his tremendous speed and shooting gifts. It felt like most Sixers possessions began with Maxey coming off a pindown screen, or Maxey coming across the face of the defense on an Iverson cut, or Maxey involved in some sort of action where he came to get the ball, rather than simply starting with it. The results were excellent — even after starting slow from deep, Maxey had an efficient 27 points after three quarters of action. Minnesota’s tired legs had something to do with that, but he looks dynamic as he always has attacking with a head of steam behind him.

This is the first time I think there is a genuine chance that he could lead the team in scoring while playing with a healthy Joel Embiid on the floor. Philadelphia’s changes to the offense largely seem to be about making Maxey’s life easier, and he took full advantage on Friday.

Odds and ends

— Quentin Grimes made his return to the lineup, and in what felt like the blink of an eye, he went from a putrid performance to a 20+ point outing. Nick Nurse leaned into the three-guard looks almost immediately, and while I don’t expect Grimes to go quite as wild as he did last season, there will be enough opportunities for him to eat well.

— I like Jabari Walker as a rotation forward, but he needs to cut down a bit on the slot drives. Walker spammed those a bit too frequently in Friday’s preseason finale, and I’d rather live with some more misses from three.