NBA Execs Reportedly Question If 76ers Created Smokescreen Amid Bailey, Edgecombe Buzz

Baylor's VJ Edgecome has become the popular choice for the Philadelphia 76ers in mock drafts, but his selection on Wednesday night at No. 3 is hardly guaranteed.

As Kevin O'Connor of Yahoo Sports reported Monday in his latest mock draft, "It appears that Edgecombe is the favorite [for the Sixers] over Ace Bailey. Some league front office executives wonder if it's all a smokescreen for Philadelphia general manager Daryl Morey to gain leverage."

The question is how much leverage there's really to be had, considering much of the analysis ahead of the draft has suggested that there are three tiers at the top of the board: Cooper Flagg is one, Dylan Harper is two, and the group of Edgecombe-Bailey, Tre Johnson, Kon Knueppel and perhaps Jeremiah Fears and Khaman Maluach is the third.

One of the mysteries leading up to the draft has been Bailey abstaining from any workouts with teams, leading some to question whether he has a promise from a team in the top 10 and is trying to steer himself to a specific situation.

ESPN's Jonathan Givony, for instance, projected Edgecombe to the Sixers and Bailey to the Washington Wizards at No. 6, reporting that "Bailey's camp states they 'feel confident going into the draft process,' which most NBA teams interpret as meaning he has received assurances of being selected by a team considered more advantageous to Bailey in the long term, considering factors such as geography, minutes, role, opportunity and development."

Bailey's unique approach to the pre-draft process has generally led to him sliding down boards on recent mock drafts.

O'Connor had the Sixers drafting Edgecombe and Bailey falling to the New Orleans Pelicans at No. 7. B/R's Jonathan Wasserman mocked Edgecombe to the Sixers, noting that "rival teams think the Sixers could be more drawn to Edgecombe's athleticism and superior analytics, as well as his encouraging shooting development" and Bailey to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 4. The Athletic's Sam Vecenie picked the Sixers to take Edgecombe and the Wizards to nab Bailey at No. 6.

Vecenie added that he believes "a trade down remains a real possibility" for the Sixers and that his "read is that if someone trades up, the most likely player they’d do it for would be Edgecombe. NBA teams see him as a relatively safe prospect in this class because of his high-end competitiveness, defensive capabilities, shooting off the catch and high-end character reports."

If Morey indeed prefers to trade back, quietly floating interest in Edgecombe in an effort to get teams to the negotiating table would make sense.

That only works, however, if a team really loves Edgecombe and believes he's markedly better than a player like Bailey, Johnson or Knueppel. Otherwise, waiting out the board makes sense.

Because Flagg and Harper are widely believed to be the top two talents available and virtual locks to be the first two players off the board, the draft really seems to begin with Philadelphia at No. 3. Edgecombe is the presumptive favorite for now, but Morey is clearly keeping his cards close to the vest.