The Utah Jazz didn’t get the pick they wanted, falling to No. 5 in the lottery. But they still received one of the highest-potential players in the NBA Draft.
Ace Bailey, the freshman wing who played for Rutgers last year, was the Jazz’s selection in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday. Bailey, one of the best mid-range shooters in NBA Draft history, looks likely to become a scoring star.
The 18-year-old didn’t work out for the Jazz in Utah, or any other NBA teams, raising questions about him in the pre-draft process.
ESPN reporter Jonathan Givony said Wednesday that Utah “was not one of his preferred destinations.” Bailey would have rather gone to New Orleans, Brooklyn or Washington, Givony said during the draft broadcast.
Bailey did not immediately address those concerns on Wednesday.
“I haven’t been worried about that. I’ve just been focusing on basketball. That’s the main thing. That’s why I’m here, just to play the basketball side. I let my family and stuff deal with other stuff,” he said, after donning a Jazz hat.
Bailey said he had “no idea” the Jazz were interested in taking him at No. 5, but called it a “blessing.”
“The little kid in me is smiling hard right now, because I know the hard work, the sacrifice, the blood, the sweat, the tears not just for me but my family put into this,” he said. “The little kid in me is just smiling at me right now, so I’m just blessed to be here.”
The Jazz’s newly minted president of basketball operations didn’t mince words, though: He considered Bailey a great fit in Utah.
“I actually interviewed him at the combine when I was in Boston with Boston’s group, and then I was able to watch the recording of the Jazz interview also, so I got to see two interviews,” Ainge said. As a result, Ainge said he was a fan of Bailey’s “general personality, his positivity, his energy. ... He’s got a youthful exuberance that’s contagious.”
“I would say that if you talk to anyone who’s been around Ace the last couple years in basketball, I think his teammates, coaches, they’d all say the same thing. This is not a unique perspective of ours, this is pretty universal,” Ainge said.
ESPN analyst Givony, meanwhile, said he believed things would smooth over quickly.
“This is an outstanding place for Ace Bailey. They have a wide open wing situation. They have a huge need for a star,” he said. “I think Ace Bailey is going to recover from this very quickly.”
And Bailey thinks he’s a star. When asked who he compares his game to at the combine, he told reporters:
“KD (Kevin Durant), Paul George, Jayson Tatum and T-Mac (Tracy McGrady). But I can see some (Carmelo Anthony) in me, too. I can see some Melo. All of us, we all do the same thing, for real. We create shots. I mean, we can shoot over defenders. We create our own space and stuff like that.”
Bailey expanded on that approach on Wednesday, when asked what he brings to his new team:
“A leader, confidence. Hard worker. Just a player that pushes people to be the best. A very great teammate,” he said. “I’m the person that’s going to push everybody to be the best they can be, even the coaches.”
After weeks of speculation, Bailey said he was eager to get back on the basketball court.
“Yeah, I’m glad it’s over,” he said. “I’m ready to play some basketball now. It’s just been a great journey. Me working hard, pushing myself physically and mentally, just getting prepared for the next level.”
Whether he likes it or not, his home court is in Utah now.
