NBA: Fifth-Overall Pick Ace Bailey “Blessed” To Join The Jazz
Utah was reportedly not one of Bailey's preferred draft destinations.
Ace Bailey, the fifth pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, was introduced by the Utah Jazz yesterday alongside fellow draftees Walter Clayton Jr. and John Tonje. This comes just four days after Utah was identified as one of the draft destinations Bailey preferred not to go to, according to a source who spoke to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
Following an introduction by Austin Ainge, the president of the Utah Jazz’s basketball operations, the first question was directed at Ace Bailey. He was asked if he considered not flying out to Utah.
“No, not at all,” Bailey said. “I’m just blessed to be in the position that I am. Not a lot of people can sit in these chairs and have great teammates that came on with me, so I’m just blessed to be here.”
Bailey’s new outlook sounds very different than what he initially said after he was drafted on June 25th. Following his selection, Bailey was asked what he would tell people who didn’t think he was happy to be drafted by the Jazz. He gave a vague answer and didn’t say anything about feeling “blessed.”
Ace Bailey with pure joy being drafted to Utah Jazz pic.twitter.com/zvvzrgJMvm
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) June 26, 2025
“I can control what I can control,” Bailey said on draft night. “They feel how they feel. But my team and me, me focusing on basketball and them doing what they’re doing, so it happens.”
The drama surrounding Ace Bailey started when he made the surprising decision not to attend any one-on-one pre-draft interviews or workouts with NBA teams. On top of that, a source who spoke to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Jonathan Givony said that one of Bailey’s representatives told a team drafting in the top five not to take the 18-year-old forward with their pick.
“We’ve had good communication with Ace Bailey and his representatives,” a Jazz spokesperson told ESPN two days after the first round of the draft. “We feel good about everything. Ace and his family are coming to Utah (Saturday). We’ll have a press conference Sunday and a practice Monday… This has always been the plan, including for our other rookies, Walter Clayton and John Tonje – to let them go home and collect their belongings, and then fly right to summer league from Salt Lake City.”
Regardless of how Ace Bailey felt, the Utah Jazz were thrilled that he fell into their laps.
the ace up our sleeve and he’s #19 #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/pHuPZCTnrG
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) June 30, 2025
“He’s great,” Austin Ainge told reporters after Bailey was drafted. “We were able to speak with him. He was super excited. We’re super excited. We’re expecting a very bright future. His scoring gets a lot of attention, [and] deservedly so. He’s very skilled for his size. But watching a lot of film on him, I was impressed with his defensive effort and particularly his rebounding. Lot of weakside block shots, and his joy and energy for the game. We do a lot of background calls and work on guys, and everyone loves being around Ace.”
Now that Bailey has landed in Salt Lake City, he is focusing on getting prepared for the upcoming season. He said that he “absolutely” thinks he can make an immediate impact on this team.
“I got great energy,” Bailey said on Sunday during the introductory press conference. “I can do everything from rebounding to defense to scoring to passing. So I can say I can bring it a lot in different ways.”
“I trust my work,” he continued. “I [put in] countless hours in the gym with everything that I do. So I trust it. Everybody makes mistakes. God didn’t put us here to be perfect. So I just trust myself and just trust my process.”