NBA Reporter Reveals the Team Ace Bailey Tried To Force His Way Too In The Draft

Heading into the 2025 NBA Draft, we knew that Cooper Flagg would be the No. 1 overall selection, but beyond that, there was plenty of intrigue around the rest of the lottery. One player who upped that intrigue was Ace Bailey, as the 19-year-old out of Rutgers seemingly made the process as hard as possible for teams.

Eventually, Bailey was drafted by the Utah Jazz, and he is expected to be a major part of their future, but according to reports, that's not the way he wanted it to play out. Following all of the speculation around Bailey, Marc Stein has revealed that his representation was hoping his actions would lead to him being drafted at No. 6 overall by the Washington Wizards.

It's unclear what the motive was behind Bailey wanting to end up in Washington, as he is from Tennessee and played his college ball at Rutgers, but clearly, the plan from Bailey's team didn't work out the way they wanted it to. In 30 games played in his college career, Bailey averaged an impressive 18 points on 51% shooting from the field, entering the NBA as one of the best young shot creators in the draft.

Now, however, he'll need to start his career in Salt Lake City, a place he didn't expect to end up, but with a good young core brewing in Utah, if Bailey can make his adjustments at the NBA level, he could pan out as a very good selection for the organization.