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NEW YORK — In the end, Ace Bailey’s tumble down the NBA Draft didn’t go that far. The Rutgers wing went No. 5 overall to the Utah Jazz after a pre-draft process that left league observers scratching their heads and wondering where it was headed.
Bailey had been the presumptive third pick in the draft for the last few months of the college basketball season and after the draft combine, but his pre-draft approach raised eyebrows around the league. He did not work out for the Philadelphia 76ers and it is not known if he held any pre-draft workouts. It was unclear if he might fall into the middle of the lottery or if he had a destination in mind. He seemed to avoid team workouts and visits.
Instead, the Jazz jumped on Bailey and added one of the most talented players in the draft
Bailey said the pre-draft controversy was not on his mind Wednesday.
“I wasn’t really thinking about it,” he said. “The reason I’m here is because of basketball, so that’s what I’m focusing on, the basketball. Just putting the ball in the hoop, thanking God every day, waking up every day thanking God, playing basketball.”
Bailey said he did not visit with the Jazz ahead of the draft. The belief among some in the NBA was that Bailey’s representation was trying to guide him to the Washington Wizards, who own the No. 6 pick, or the New Orleans Pelicans, who picked seventh. Bailey distanced himself from that and said any belief that he was trying to land with those teams was inaccurate.
“No, I’m just focused on the basketball part,” he said. “I had nothing to do with that.”
Now, he will make himself at home in Utah.
The Jazz drafted a player believed to have a high ceiling. Bailey was the consensus No. 2 player in his high school player, only topped by new Dallas Mavericks wing Cooper Flagg. At one point, before the college basketball season began, some NBA scouts said that if anyone could supplant Flagg at the top of the draft, it would be the 6-foot-8 Bailey.
He had an uneven season at Rutgers, where he starred alongside Dylan Harper, who went second overall to the San Antonio Spurs. Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, with a .514 effective field goal percentage. He and Harper became the 13th pair of college teammates to go in the top five picks of the same draft despite Rutgers going just 15-17 in their lone season together. Bailey flashed a sweet jumper and impressive athleticism but struggled with his shot selection and had more turnovers than assists.
While Bailey has never visited the state of Utah and didn’t watch the Jazz last season, he said he is quickly learning about both.
“I fit in good because we all young, so we all got a lot to learn,” he said. “We can play with each other, get to know each other, how we play, how we fit in, what works, and then also, I don’t know a lot about Utah, but I’m learning as we go. I know it’s cold and it’s hot. It get cold and it get hot here. Gotta find me a place with a good a good heater.”
The Jazz have already had an eventful offseason. They hired Austin Ainge from the Boston Celtics front office as their new president of basketball operations. He is tasked with pulling the Jazz out of the rough. They had the worst record in the NBA this past season and have posted a losing record in head coach Will Hardy’s three seasons with the team. Hardy received a contract extension this offseason.
But the Jazz are not bereft of talent. Lauri Markkanen was an All-Star just two seasons ago and is still 28. Walker Kessler, Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier are interesting young players. Cody Williams and Taylor Hendricks were both recent lottery picks.
Bailey will be the best prospect of them all. He has high expectations for how his career will begin and where it will go.
“I definitely want to win Rookie of the Year,” he said. “Definitely want to be an All-Star my rookie year. I want to do a lot.”
Draft guide summary
The ceiling for Bailey is the second-best player in this class if he improves his areas of need. Particularly, he needs to improve his flexibility and ability to play with bend while also getting stronger. That would allow him to access more power and use his gifts across the court. Once he does that, Bailey can start improving his gathers and ball pickups around the rim on his drives to improve his finishing, which would also hopefully get defenders more off-balance and give him more options. That would improve his shooting percentages, which, again, even on pull-ups this year, were markedly low. Then, on defense, it would allow him to play the leverage game better. Hopefully, better engagement on that end would follow, too, but he showed enough upside on that end to become a player. If all of this happens, there’s serious All-Star upside. Anyone who says that doesn’t exist is flat-out wrong. There is a chance Bailey could morph into a playmaker and star-level difference-maker on the wing.
Ultimately, though, it all feels like a house of cards. He needs to improve the bend and flexibility, which would then improve certain parts of his game. Then, he’d need to also keep improving the shooting percentage, and, oh, by the way, he’d also need to keep improving his ability to make decisions off his drives as a passer, and then on top of that he needs to get locked in more consistently and showcase better engagement on defense regularly. There are a lot of moving parts that make me somewhat uncomfortable with drafting a player like this in the top five. There are so many areas that need improvement. The good news is there’s a floor. Already, Bailey is a shooter off the catch and a player with size, length and athleticism who has shown moments on defense at 18 years old. That should allow him to stick in the NBA for a long while, even if the upside case doesn’t totally come together.
Where Bailey lands is probably going to tell the tale of his career. I would love to see him end up in a situation where he can learn to play more consistently off the ball early in his career, develop his feel for the game a bit more and not be thrust into a primary scoring role. That would allow him to develop slowly and work on all the many parts of his game that need development. Think of the players like this archetype who have had success. Jayson Tatum landed in a Boston situation that didn’t rely on him to be the guy until Year 3. Paul George basically came off the bench in Year 1 before blossoming in his third year. Kawhi Leonard didn’t play much on the ball until his fourth year. Bailey is a project. He’s one worth investing in, but it’s going to take time as he continues to mature. Hopefully, he lands in a situation that gives him that chance. — Sam Vecenie
(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)