Ace Bailey’s Utah Jazz career started with a little drama.
But he’s quickly making fans.
The No. 5 overall pick said he’s felt welcomed by Jazz fans in his first few days in the state. After landing in Salt Lake City on Saturday, for example, the 18-year-old said he needed a new phone, so he went to City Creek’s Apple Store, where he was approached by several fans, some of whom helpfully gave him advice on restaurants to try during his time in Utah.
On Tuesday, Bailey and fellow draft picks Walt Clayton and John Tonje hosted a one-hour clinic at a Boys and Girls Club in Murray, with about 50 kids there trying to pick up a few pointers from the newest Jazz players.
“They started chanting ‘We want Ace, We want Ace,’” Bailey said. ”I just loved it."
And the Jazz are liking what Bailey has done on the court so far, too.
By all accounts, his first few days of summer league practice have been a success.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz rookie Ace Bailey signs a basketball during a basketball clinic with new Utah Jazz rookies at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salt Lake in Murray on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
“He brought good energy, he’s a very personable kid to talk to. Took coaching real well. He got here early, got some shots up, did a little bit of work, but he’ll figure out his rhythm,” Jazz summer league coach Scott Morrison said. “And I’d say overall, he brought a positive impact on the day, which is something to be said for someone that age in his first days in the NBA.”
The priority of the workout sessions is introducing the summer league players to the Jazz’s preferred style of basketball for the upcoming season. Offensively, the Jazz want to play “fast,” Bailey said, both in their movements up and down the court and in the decisions they make when catching the ball.
On the other end of the floor, the Jazz want to apply more ball pressure than they did last season — especially after seeing how well that strategy worked for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals.
“The key is for those guys to become great individual defensive players, and that first step with that is kind of just to take the governor off and go all out with the ball pressure, with helping, with talking,” Morrison said.
Morrison said Bailey’s been a good influence in practice so far.
“He made a few mistakes like everybody else, but that stuff will come,” Morrison said. “The biggest thing is that he brought good energy, good attitude, and was open to hearing stuff that we had to talk to him about.”
Omar Cooper Jr. at Salt Lake City Summer League
In shooting sessions Wednesday, Bailey worked with Clayton Jr., and summer league signing Steve Crowl, a 7-foot shooter from Wisconsin.
(Tyler Tate | AP) Utah Jazz drafted players, left to right, Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr. and John Tonje pose during the Utah Jazz player introduction news conference, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City.
In that workout, balls were passed to the trio of prospects from a familiar face: Omar Cooper, Jr.
Cooper Jr., the son of Bailey’s longtime manager Omar Cooper and the twin brother of former NBA Draft pick Sharife Cooper, has been invited by the Jazz to be a guest coach for the team’s summer league slate. Cooper Jr., a senior guard who averaged 1.7 points per game for McNeese State, is looking to get into coaching after a swollen appendix cost him the majority of his season.
The 24-year-old Cooper Jr. was offered a graduate assistant job by McNeese State head coach Will Wade — which he may still take before the collegiate season begins — but the opportunity with the Jazz will allow him to shadow NBA coaches as he learns a new role in basketball. He also shadowed Bailey in the portion of Wednesday’s practice that was open to media, as Bailey got up different kinds of shots.
“He’s helping us in all types of ways, from just shooting, from getting up early mornings with us, all of the above,” Bailey said of Cooper Jr.’s influence.
Bailey signs rookie deal
On Wednesday, the Jazz announced they had signed both Bailey and Clayton Jr.
The terms of the deals were not made public.
