Ace Bailey entered the NBA with a reputation.

Armed with a unique combination of size and skill, the forward out of Rutgers University, selected by the Utah Jazz with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, was known for his scoring prowess. There was no shot that Bailey couldn’t make, regardless of the degree of difficulty or the level of defensive pressure.

While that elite scoring ability has been on display during his rookie season with the Jazz, it’s been the 19-year-old’s contributions in other areas of the game that have complemented his shot-making and allowed him to enjoy a breakout spring. Bailey’s impressive close to the season has garnered attention around the league, with a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Teams certainly within reach.

On the season, Bailey has averaged 13.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.7 blocks per game. However, those numbers jumped up to 19.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.1 blocks per game during March. His 3-point shooting reached a new level last month as well, as the rookie connected on 40.3 percent of his 8.5 attempts per contest.

”(I have to) keep going,” Bailey said after a 37-point effort against the Toronto Raptors. “There’s a lot more to accomplish. I’m giving it my all every game and trying to take advantage of things so I’m trying to give it my all out there.”

Source:

https://www.nba.com/jazz/news/ace-baileys-growth-on-both-ends-highlights-an-all-rookie-campaign

Live-Cartographer-52

165 | 4 hours ago

he only 19

no one should critic his slow start

thisshirtisblacknaht | Lakers

48 | 4 hours ago

People love to write young players off after a month, 1 year, 2 years, etc. Such a weird phenomenon

Nobody7713 | Raptors

34 | 4 hours ago

Year 3 is where I draw a line. If there hasn’t been signs of improvement by then teams need to look carefully at the next contract.

thisshirtisblacknaht | Lakers

15 | 3 hours ago

You also have to look at the situation as whole bc not developing in 3 years on a bad team with poor coaching and role fit is a lot different than not developing under the tutelage of a guy like Phil Handy. Rui is a pretty good example, he was pretty much the same player he came into the league as when he got traded to LA. Showed some flashes. Then after one offseason with Handy he was a completely different player in year 5.

There’s a really big coaching / development gap in the league. It’s like how Ham would use Christie on ball for a couple sets, it wouldn’t work, then he’d get benched. JJ comes in, puts him off ball (the most obvious move), he becomes a legit 3&D wing.

cyb3ryung | Warriors

2 | 2 hours ago

the right coaching and situation can be all the difference for guys and some never get the opportunity to play somewhere that brings the best out of them.

Nobody7713 | Raptors

1 | 3 hours ago

Right. I’m not saying they’re doomed if there’s not much after year 3, just that teams need to start being careful. At that point it’s very likely their current team/system is not working for them, anyways.

thisshirtisblacknaht | Lakers

2 | 3 hours ago

For sure, especially with the aprons now. Can’t hand out a contract based on potential without any sort of proof of concept

moby323 | 76ers

6 | 4 hours ago

Agree. Even guys like Evan Mobley, who is just 24 years old.

biscuitg0d | NBA

1 | 3 hours ago

Everyone expects guys to be Luka or LeBron or Timmy, no one’s willing to wait anymore

deemerritt | Hornets

15 | 3 hours ago

The Jazz handled this well. The worst case scenario for him was going to a team where he had the ultimate green light and continued his bad habits. He went to a team that made him play the right way if he wanted minutes, and its honestly gone about as well as you would hope for a rookie year for Ace. Super excited for him

UnlikelyTap7076

9 | 3 hours ago

Critique*

MembershipSingle7137

3 | 3 hours ago

So is Jayson Tatum and we hear all the hate for him

/s but also nah

thecrunchcrew | SAS

0 | 2 hours ago

I wouldn’t call it hate. He’s just a top 5 all time cornball

SignificantMoose6482 | Nuggets

1 | 2 hours ago

Kid looks young enough that he might have a growth spurt this summer still. Come back next yr at 7’

jgman22 | Pelicans

161 | 4 hours ago

Meanwhile Derik Queen is shooting 41.9% since the allstar break

Fucking kill me

Swaggamuffins | 76ers

84 | 4 hours ago

Rookie percents tend to fall off late, first season with that many games at that level, legs go a bit. He’s just following a typical trajectory. I don’t think it takes away from the upside he flashed

PestyAssassin33WU93 | CHA

17 | 3 hours ago

I still believe in him. I love his game

LaggOuTX | Hawks

8 | an hour ago

Amazing trade for the pelicans 🤫

moby323 | 76ers

5 | 4 hours ago

What happened? At one point this season it looked like the Pelicans might have made a brilliant move in moving up for him

ASadChongyunMain | Spurs

71 | 4 hours ago

I don’t think throwing your Unprotected 1st round when you’re still tanking is brilliant

SJCitizen | 76ers

2 | an hour ago

They aren’t tanking they’re just perpetually injured which makes the move even dumber because if you look at their roster anyone with a brain would’ve told you it was an injury-prone team

gedbybee | Spurs

2 | 3 hours ago

Nah they have Zion they’re good lol.

Proof-Umpire-7718 | Lakers

50 | 4 hours ago

That trade has always been horrendous considering they could have traded other assets instead to move up 10 spots. That pick was way too valuable to trade for an insignificant spot in the draft.

jgman22 | Pelicans

30 | 4 hours ago

At no point did that move ever look brilliant.

He hit a rookie wall months ago.

Maverick_1991 | Hawks

15 | 3 hours ago

They made a brilliant move.

From a totally unbiased perspective.

yeetmxster420 | Minneapolis Lakers

14 | 3 hours ago

throwing away their unprotective first round pick was always a dumb move, even if queen somehow ended up a good player

Temporary-Level-5410 | Lakers

8 | 3 hours ago

When was this? Brilliant? Lmfao

LAMonkeyWithAShotgun | Spurs

1 | 3 hours ago

He is american Sengun

That’s my ceiling comp

TheTechnique | Pelicans

6 | 2 hours ago

I’ll take American sengun comp considering our franchise history comp is Kings on the Mississippi River

LAMonkeyWithAShotgun | Spurs

2 | 2 hours ago

I mean yeah I think he will be a decent player. It’s just the trade that fucks everything up

tollbeat | Wizards

1 | an hour ago

I wouldn’t worry too much about FG%. Queen was known to have relatively poor conditioning so I assume the season was just too long for him. Let him get to an NBA level of fitness and then we can properly judge him.

PanthalassaRo | Knicks

0 | 2 hours ago

That’s just the rookie wall, no need to get too wary.

FERFreak731 | Jazz

112 | 3 hours ago

The Jazz need to give the shooting coach named Chad a 20 year contract

Walker went ⁶⁄₈ from three before he got hurt this season. Brice is averaging 21 points on 40% from three in 28 mpg post all star break. Then Ace found his shot too

Apparently Chad has been working with Ace all season long on his jumpshot, and David Locke who is the radio commentator and does Locked on Jazz who travels with the Jazz says a lot that he hears Ace is committed to get coached by the coaches, which is funny how people said Ace is against being coached and is a selfish ball hog before he was drafted

musicnothing | Jazz

23 | an hour ago

Ace is not at all the guy he seemed to be pre-draft. I’m very pleased with him so far. REALLY hope we’re competitive for a playoff spot next season because a lot of these guys have been very patient and worked very hard.

TommyTookALook666 | Raptors

16 | an hour ago

Unless Ace had a come to Jesus moment i guess the perception of him is almost entirely to blame on his agent. Hopefully this means we get a competitive Jazz season next year. Although it will be interesting to see what role Ace plays with their new roster when all healthy

tydawg_149 | Timberwolves

3 | an hour ago

I think you guys definitely will be, at this point you have way too many good players to not be a decent team especially if you hit on a high draft pick

ZestycloseRound677 | Mavericks

8 | 3 hours ago

Can we get him?

amidon1130 | Hawks

2 | an hour ago

Can we lock him in a room with dyson daniels for 3 weeks? I’ll be your best friend!

Thin_Ad2745

1 | 16 minutes ago

brice has always been an elite shooter even before the nba but walker’s development is really impressive (if it holds up in a larger sample size)

genericusernamepls | UTA

45 | 4 hours ago

His biggest weakness is his 19 year old body. I can’t wait to see him after a summer with nba trainers

Asleep_Ground1710 | Bulls

7 | an hour ago

Rn I’d say it’s his handle and foul baiting ability. If dude wants to ascend to all star/all nba level he needs to get to the rim and the line more

Ace should study young KD, he was amazing at foul baiting lol before they banned the rip through(KD and CP3 were huge offenders of it).

nowhathappenedwas | NBA

42 | 3 hours ago

Bailey’s numbers for March-April: 19.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 blocks, 40.3% from 3PT.

Those are just his stats for March. He’s 5 for 23 (21.7%) on threes in April.

He’s way too young to write off, but 3P% in a month is mostly just random noise and shouldn’t be mistaken for growth (or decline).

FERFreak731 | Jazz

5 | 3 hours ago

To be fair, 2 of the games were being guarded by Thunder players, and Amen Thompson, so the April stats should have asterisk that he was guarded by All Defensive first team caliber defenders

JX_JR | Warriors

5 | an hour ago

To be fair, in March he went ⁷⁄₁₁ against the Wizards so his stats should have an asterisk that he wasn’t guarded. If you take that game out he goes from 40.3% from 3 for the month to 37.9% and we don’t have this post.

Drak_is_Right | Pacers

0 | an hour ago

Yup

I look at how Duarte did for a month or how Mathurin did rookie year.

Also the Jazz are running g league bench warmers so you need SOMEONE to shoot. Some could be filler stats on a bad team

Definitely a case here where I am wait and see.

Doesnt mean he is good, but does mean he at least has a chance at being ok in the NBA.

nullstellensatz1

39 | 3 hours ago

Never trust stats in March and April.

Repulsive_Tutor7750

22 | 3 hours ago

we do this every damn year lol

Shaedon Sharpe was looking like an MIP candidate a couple years ago but only in the final month of the season.

shelvino | Trail Blazers

7 | 3 hours ago

I don’t know, I remember when I saw Shaedon first do it during his rookie year I was stoked because a lot of other stars did similar things their rookie year. Because at the end of the year, teams pretty much give the ultimate leash to their young guys because there is nothing else to play for and other teams are ready to TANK or preserve their energy for the playoffs.

I remember Booker, Trae, Lamelo, Ant, all put it together and ended their rookie year super strong. Obviously there are some rando scrubs that take advantage of the added minutes and give some false hope but for promising high draft picks, I think it means something…

My guy Shae got injured his 2nd season then had a weird 3rd year. Then got hurt again this year :(

Scoot got his end of year leash cut during his rookie year and averaged like 5 TO 4 fouls when they started giving him 35+ mins lol

Brod24 | Magic

5 | 3 hours ago

GG Jackson, Jeremy Sochan, Marvin Bagley, Josh Jackson. All names that had great rookie post all star offensive numbers

dae5oty

12 | 3 hours ago

I wouldn’t fully trust them but it’s not like he was only playing tankers. Jazz had like a top ten SOS for March

JX_JR | Warriors

2 | an hour ago

A lot of that 3 point percentage is going ⁷⁄₁₁ against the Wizards thought…

widdlewaddle1 | Supersonics

8 | 3 hours ago

We’re taking late season NBA games from a tanking team seriously? I suppose it’s better than him continuing to stink, but let’s see him do it when teams (including his own) are actually trying.

Cythripio | Jazz

2 | 3 hours ago

In non-tanking games, they’ll have 3-4 other options on the floor for opponents to focus their defense on. I can’t wait to see what he can do next year.

Drak_is_Right | Pacers

1 | an hour ago

15 g league guys will still score 100 fairly regularly.

mfsauceboy | Nets

7 | 4 hours ago

That’s a lot of rebounds

Briggity_Brak | Tampa Bay Raptors

2 | 3 hours ago

Actually, still not even that much, even when you’re double counting.

HeadGullible8440

7 | 3 hours ago

This class and the next one look phenomenal. Makes me feel bad for the hawks lol.

Briggity_Brak | Tampa Bay Raptors

6 | 3 hours ago

I don’t feel bad for the Hawks at all. But yes, this is exactly why these idiotic ideas like “can’t have a top 5 pick in consecutive years” or whatever other bullshit they’ve come up with should NEVER be put in place.

JSAlmonte

1 | an hour ago

We to

KushaKeith

2 | an hour ago

Very inflated. He plays a lot of garbage time.

fisheggsoup | Jazz

1 | an hour ago

…Go on… 🫠

Clownbaby1435

-2 | 4 hours ago

Jazz getting greedy fuck them! Hope they get 9th 🤣

FERFreak731 | Jazz

10 | 3 hours ago

The Thunder get the pick if the Jazz fall to 9th. So would you rather have Steve Ballmer, aka the Jazz, win 100 billion, or Elon Musk, aka the Thunder, win 100 billion

Jazz are more deserving of keeping their pick in the top 8 than give the 9th pick to a team that doesn’t need it even more

Clownbaby1435

3 | 3 hours ago

Oh than nvm that be worse 😂

After getting off to a slow start, Ace Bailey has proven to be another pillar of what has been a SENSATIONAL rookie class. Bailey’s numbers for March-April: 19.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.1 blocks, 40.3% from 3PT.