Ace Bailey
Expectation: Finding Easier Scoring Opportunities
Despite him wanting to go to the Washington Wizards, the Jazz made a surprising move to take Rutgers freshman Ace Bailey with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
As a prospect, the 6-foot-9 Bailey is an offensively talented forward who loves operating in the mid-range. He certainly has a beautiful and smooth jump shot, which he uses to be a proficient pull-up shooter from anywhere on the court. At the less glamorous end, Bailey’s size and length give him the tools to be an extremely impactful defender. With the right development, he can be a strong, multi-positional defender who can offer weakside shot-blocking.
Unquestionably, Bailey possesses a ton of talent that can impact Utah’s future in a positive way. However, he has significant things to work on during his rookie year. In particular, the expectation for Bailey is that he looks for easier scoring opportunities out on the court. One of the biggest weaknesses in Bailey’s offensive game is his proclivity for taking tough shots and having overall poor shot-selection. In the first half of 2024-25, he struggled to get to the rim, which made him force bad shots.
To be fair, the personnel Bailey played with at Rutgers didn’t give him much to work with. He didn’t have the proper spacing to get good driving lanes, and only Dylan Harper had the passing skills to consistently put Bailey in positions to succeed. With the Jazz, Bailey has teammates that are better equipped to take the defensive attention off of him. With shooters like Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, and Brice Sensabaugh, he should also have better spacing for driving lanes. Considering the circumstances, Bailey must show he can find easier shots at the rim rather than settling for poor shots.
If he can do that, it will perfectly round out his scoring.
