Utah may not have been Ace Bailey’s first choice, but he was Utah’s.
Austin Ainge and Ryan Smith pegged the former Rutgers star as their top choice heading into draft night.
“Dream scenario,” Ainge said when he landed the 6-foot-8 wing.
Clearly, the Jazz front office was unfazed by reports Utah wasn’t one of Bailey’s “preferred destinations” or that he didn’t work out for the team.
And Smith explained why on Thursday.
“We want to take the best player on the board and we love Ace,” Smith said on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show.” “I got a chance to talk to him last night. All I saw was a kid who was humble, grateful, excited to be in the NBA. That’s all you can ask for.”
Smith said he understood some of Bailey’s hesitation about heading to Utah. Bailey reportedly preferred New Orleans, Brooklyn or Washington as landing spots, according to ESPN.
“Naturally, he doesn’t have a lot of experience out west here with Utah,” Smith said. “That’s our job to make him love it. I’m confident in our state and he’ll feel love like he’s never felt before. And the reality is, there is nothing Ace and others can’t accomplish here.”
Smith should at least have the better part of the next decade to show off Utah to Bailey.
In the end, he believes it’ll be a place Bailey can call home.
“I think the picture is our head can lead us to a really weird spot. It limits all the opportunities in front of us,” Smith said. “It is natural to feel uncomfortable. I think if you went down the entire draft board and said, ‘What is everyone’s preferred destination?’ It is probably not the right move for them that they think it is in their head.”
Bailey will play in the Salt Lake City Summer League starting on July 5 before he heads to Las Vegas.
