Surprise in the 2025 NBA Draft: Utah Jazz Selects Ace Bailey
In an unexpected move during the 2025 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz selected Ace Bailey, Rutgers forward, one of the most promising and enigmatic talents of this year’s class. Bailey’s pre-draft strategy had generated great interest in the days leading up to the event. He was projected to be chosen among the top three, and was listed at number 3 on the list of the top 100 prospects, but he was the only American player who did not conduct any training sessions with an NBA team before the draft. This fueled the belief that Bailey and his team had a preferred destination outside the top five, causing him to fall in the draft projections. In the final mock draft, it was predicted that he would be selected by the Washington Wizards with the sixth overall pick. A source revealed that the Jazz were not among Bailey’s preferred destinations before the draft, although Utah’s president of basketball operations, Austin Ainge, stated that they really like him as a player and how he fits into the program. Bailey was a highly debated prospect among NBA teams throughout the season. Standing at 6 feet 9 inches and with promising shooting ability, he has the size to be a stretch forward, the most valuable positional archetype in today’s league. However, Bailey is also not particularly efficient and has room for improvement as a ball handler and passer. The Wizards, who are in the process of rebuilding, urgently needed a star, a player who could become the top scorer on a high-level team, something for which Bailey, if he meets expectations, is perfectly capable.But the Jazz, who had the worst NBA record last season with 17-65, find themselves in the same situation, and they weren’t deterred from choosing Bailey just because they didn’t have the opportunity to coach him. Utah’s roster has plenty of room for Bailey to operate and will be led by one of the league’s best coaches, Will Hardy, who agreed to a long-term extension with the franchise this offseason. Now, the Jazz get the kind of talent they would have expected only if they had moved up in the lottery last month.
