“Just play basketball. Wherever you go, just hoop.” That was Ace Bailey on the NBA Draft stage, doing his best to sound cool and unbothered as a storm of questions about his pre-draft power plays swirled around him. He just wanted to talk hoops. But on a night that was supposed to be a celebration, the only story that mattered was the high-stakes gamble his team had just lost in spectacular fashion. And when the Utah Jazz picked him at No. 5, the whole basketball world got to watch the messy fallout on live TV.
For weeks, the biggest drama wasn’t about who would go number one; it was about where Ace Bailey wouldn’t go. He ghosted teams. He canceled a workout with the Philadelphia 76ers, who had the third pick. It was a bold, transparent power play by his agent to try and steer him to his preferred destination, which everyone believed was the Washington Wizards at pick No. 6.
Then, live on ESPN, the nightmare scenario for Bailey’s camp unfolded. Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper went one-two, as expected. The Sixers, the team Bailey had snubbed, happily took VJ Edgecombe. The Hornets grabbed Kon Knueppel. And suddenly, it was Utah on the clock, one pick before the Wizards. The Jazz didn’t blink. They took the Rutgers star, a player now headed to a city he reportedly had no interest in playing for.
Yahoo! Sports‘ Jake Fischer confirmed it instantly, tweeting, “There is no trade. Ace Bailey to the Utah Jazz at No. 5, one spot before his widely-perceived preferred home of Washington.” A moment later, on the broadcast, ESPN’s draft guru Jonathan Givony delivered the final, brutal confirmation. “This was not one of his preferred destinations,” Givony said bluntly. Just like that, the gamble had failed. The power play had backfired.
“This was not one of his preferred destinations,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony says of Ace Bailey in Utah.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) June 26, 2025
What makes this so wild is the disconnect between the drama and the talent. This isn’t some fringe prospect trying to game the system. He even worked out with Giannis Antetokounmpo last summer. When asked if he was ready to use the moves he learned against the two-time MVP, Bailey just grinned. “Oh, for sure. I got some more stuff for him, too.” He has the talent, the swagger, and the respect of the league’s best. But now, thanks to a draft-night gamble that blew up in his face, he also has a very awkward situation in his new city.
In his post-draft interview, asked how he could be so calm, he credited his inner circle. “I have a great circle that maintains the outside work while I just focus on the basketball part,” he said. He’s going to need that circle now more than ever.
(This is a developing story…)
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