Copyright Athlon Sports
The 2025-26 NBA season is underway, with the first week of games already being contested. While interest around stars like LeBron James, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, and more remains high as ever, this season promises to bring us a fascinating Rookie of the Year race, potentially between Dallas Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg and Philadelphia 76ers’ V.J. Edgecombe. It’s the start of a long season that ends in June 2026, but the Rookie of the Year battle is shaping up nicely. Edgecombe made history with the most points in an NBA debut since Wilt Chamberlain with his 34-point performance against the Boston Celtics. The No. 3 pick is averaging 25.0 points (50.0 FG%), 5.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists through three games so far. Flagg came into the season with generational hype as the No. 1 overall pick. While we have seen flashes of his greatness, such as the 22-point performance against the Washington Wizards, his start has underwhelmed compared to Edgecombe’s, averaging 13.0 points (38.0 FG%), 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists through four games. A particular lowlight came last night with 2 points on 1-8 shooting against the reigning champions OKC Thunder. The pair have been competing against each other for years, including in high school when Edgecombe played for Long Island Lutheran and Flagg played for Montverde Academy. An old clip of Flagg ruthlessly trash-talking Edgecombe in a 2024 high school matchup has resurfaced after the start of what might be an exciting ROTY race. “You not like that.” Fans are already discussing how this clip is aging after their respective NBA starts. “Narrator: ‘VJ, was in fact very much like that.'” “Flagg going for 2 points on 11% shooting, and VJ is looking like an all-star level 2-way threat. Inject this straight into my veins.” “Lol isn’t it funny Cooper was the most hyped prospect for a year or something, and the minute he goes to Mavs, the hype dies down.” “When VJ wins ROTY, this will be a nice intro to his edit.” “Cooper Flagg certainly isn’t like that against actual NBA competition. It’s not high school and college anymore, buddy.” “I know it’s just one week, but… 25/6/6 versus 13/5/3.” Edgecombe has had a decidedly better start to the season than Flagg, but the 76ers’ rookie will have to prove he can outperform Flagg for most of the season. His odds of doing that are complicated by whenever Paul George and Jared McCain are healthy enough to return to the 76ers lineup, unless he keeps up his current level and makes himself virtually undroppable. His impact on both ends of the court might be too much to relegate to the bench, which likely will open up more opportunities to assert himself as the best rookie in this class. Flagg doesn’t have as ideal a situation for himself on the Mavericks. He’s the subject of an experiment where coach Jason Kidd is trying to make him a point guard. It was an experiment that greatly paid off in Giannis Antetokounmpo’s development after Kidd did the same with him on the Milwaukee Bucks, but the results took multiple years to show. Outside of not being in his natural position, Flagg also had a larger bridge to cross in terms of adapting his offensive skills to the NBA. Through three games, we’ve seen the middle and bottom end of his performances already. The high end is yet to come, and the more comfortable he gets on the court, the likelier it is to boost his performances. In reality, Flagg isn’t looking like the No. 2 to Edgecombe in the ROTY race through the first week of the season, with other standout talents. No. 2 pick Dylan Harper is averaging 14.8 points (47.8 FG%), 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists. for the undefeated San Antonio Spurs, while Kon Knueppel is proving his worth on the Charlotte Hornets, averaging 15.0 points (55.2 FG%) and 4.7 rebounds. We have a long season ahead, but the 2025 rookie class might provide endless entertainment throughout this campaign.
