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At one point in the process, Ace Bailey seemed like a sure thing to go No. 3 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft to the Philadelphia 76ers. Since that point, all Bailey and his representatives have done is ruin his reputation around the league, and things just got much worse.
Bailey did the best he could to tank his draft stock, refusing to work out for the Sixers or any other team, for that matter, in the leadup to Wednesday’s first round. Ultimately, the Utah Jazz and team president Danny Ainge took the risk of drafting Bailey with the fifth pick despite reports expressing his disinterest in joining the franchise.
Bailey expressed his displeasure with the selection at the draft. But most fans assumed that things would eventually work themselves out. Well, now it appears those assumptions may have been incorrect.
The Jazz will not acquiesce to Ace Bailey’s demands, per @WindhorstESPN.
If necessary, Utah is willing to wait it out as long as possible until Bailey realizes this is his only NBA team.
The Bailey saga continues on as Utah hopes he arrives on Monday.pic.twitter.com/bXsDwlQA8z https://t.co/dqZMFbkNTq
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 27, 2025
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports that Bailey has not yet joined the Utah Jazz. That comes after previous reports suggesting that Bailey would not join the Jazz if the team drafted him. But Windhorst also states that Utah will not acquiesce to any trade demands.
“The Jazz were very excited to welcome him to Utah over the weekend, and that hasn’t happened yet. So he did not go there. Their other first-round pick, Walter Clayton Jr., flew to Utah on Thursday and is getting ready to go. Ace Bailey did not, and there’s been minimal contact with him and the team,’ Windhorst said. “There’s not a crisis yet. What the Jazz are saying is, he’s not expected in Utah until the weekend, and really, what he needs to do is be there by Monday when their training camp for Summer League. And if he’s there, no problem, hope his Jazz career gets off to a good start. If he’s not, let’s see what actions go from there.”
Maybe things work out for Bailey. Maybe they even work out in Utah. But right now, all he’s doing is ruining his reputation across the league. And bad first impressions are hard to overcome.