Ace Bailey Didn’t Want Utah, But the Jazz Drafted Him Anyway

No. 5 overall draft pick Ace Bailey is playing a little bit of hardball with the Utah Jazz, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Utah decided to draft Bailey despite the talented Rutgers guard declining a private workout with the team. Famously, Bailey wanted to end up on the Washington Wizards or the Brooklyn Nets. His agent and camp made it abundantly clear throughout the hours leading up to the draft.

But give Danny Ainge and the Jazz credit for pulling the trigger anyway. Utah went 17-65, the worst record in the NBA last season. The organization has been lifeless since trading Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers — and the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery did them no favors, slotting them with the No. 5 overall selection and denying them a shot at Cooper Flagg.

As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons, you have to at least try to make lemonade. While Bailey’s camp made it clear that he did not want to end up in Utah, the 18-year-old guard has one of the highest ceilings in this year’s draft.

This is a classic scenario of everybody having all of their chips on the table.

For the Jazz, they likely felt they were at a major disadvantage coming into the NBA Draft with the No. 5 pick. Drafting a player like Bailey — regardless of his preferences — gives them a real shot at developing one of the top boom-or-bust prospects in this class.

For Bailey, there’s no risk in playing hard to get. He’s talented enough that the drama surrounding him before the draft didn’t stop him from going in the top five. Reports indicate that he has been in loose communication with the Jazz since his selection and will somewhat reluctantly report to Utah by Monday.

This year’s NBA Draft faced plenty of criticism. It probably didn’t need to span two days. Critics also pointed out that these prospects rarely appear emotional — or even excited — when their names are called.

That’s largely because these lottery prospects are already millionaires, or close to it, by the time they enter the NBA. The NIL era of college athletics guarantees these top high school recruits generational wealth before they even play a college game.

If you were an 18-year-old millionaire who just fell into tens of millions more, you’d probably want to choose which city you get to live in. For most, Utah wouldn’t be very high on that list.

But Bailey’s camp now has the opportunity to capitalize on their leverage over the Jazz, who are fully aware he didn’t want to be there. He could remain difficult in an attempt to land a larger chunk of change as the No. 5 pick.

Whether he likes it or not, he’s going to have to suit up and play games in Utah when push comes to shove. But there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of leverage positioning along the way.