NEW YORK -- In the first surprise of the 2025 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz took a swing on drafting Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, one of the biggest talents -- and mysteries -- in this year's class.
Bailey's pre-draft strategy had been the biggest source of intrigue in the days leading up to the draft. He was projected for most of the season to be a top-three pick and entered Wednesday ranked No. 3 on ESPN's Top 100 prospects list, but he was the only American player who, entering draft night, hadn't conducted a single workout with an NBA team.
That fueled a belief that Bailey and his camp had a preferred destination in mind that was outside of the top five, and as a result, he began to slide down draft projections. In ESPN's final mock draft, he was projected to go to the Washington Wizards with the sixth overall selection.
The Jazz were not among Bailey's preferred destinations, a source told ESPN's Jonathan Givony in the leadup to the NBA draft, though Utah president of basketball operations Austin Ainge told ESPN afterward, "We really like him as a player, and a fit in our program."
Bailey was a hotly debated prospect among NBA teams all season. At 6-foot-9 in shoes with tantalizing shotmaking ability, he has the size to be a big wing, the most valuable positional archetype to be found in the league today. However, Bailey is also not particularly efficient and has significant room to improve as a ball-handler and passer.
Entering the draft, Washington checked several boxes for Bailey, who is from Chattanooga but grew up in Atlanta, which is a short trip from the nation's capital. The Wizards, who are in the midst of a rebuild, are a team in desperate need of a tentpole star, a player who can grow into being the leading scorer on a high-level team - something Bailey, if he hits, is exactly suited to be.
But the Jazz, who had the NBA's worst record last season at 17-65, are in the same situation, and they were not deterred from taking Bailey just because they didn't get a chance to work him out.
Utah's roster has plenty of room for Bailey to operate in and will be led by one of the league's best coaches in Will Hardy, who agreed to a long-term extension with the franchise this offseason. Now, the Jazz get the kind of talent they would've expected to only get had they moved up in the lottery last month.
