Ad Disclosure
NBA Draft: A First Look at Ace Bailey for People Like You and I, Who Didn’t Watch a Single Rutgers Basketball Game
Published:
The Philadelphia 76ers will have the 3rd pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, which takes place more than a month from now on June 25th. It’s a nice shot in the arm for a team that only achieved two things this past season, jack and shit, after high hopes were spectacularly derailed by an injury list longer than a Pennsylvania DMV line.
It’s time now to start looking at the players who may be available at #3 overall, and in the interest of full transparency, I don’t think anybody on the Crossing Broad staff watched a single Rutgers basketball game in 2024 or 2025. Pagan watches his Temple Owls and we collectively tried to shield our eyes from the Kyle Neptune Villanova era while paying only fringe attention a Big 5 that disappointed for the third-straight season.
As such, we don’t know anything about forward Ace Bailey, who has been mocked to the Sixers at 3 in a bunch of post-lottery listicles.
So let’s dive in together, first with a portion of the scouting report from Kyle Mann at The Ringer:
Bailey is among the most talented pure shotmakers to come through college basketball in the past decade. He looks more like an NBA wing than perhaps anyone else in this draft, with the height and wingspan to thrive at the next level, but it’s his head-to-toe flexibility that truly makes his scoring stand out. He’s lean and rubbery and has narrow shoulders, and although his hands are on the smaller side, he has nice mobility for his size. Altogether, his physical tools should make him a high-level finisher in the NBA—he can best defenders on the ground with creative footwork, or in the air by contorting his way to difficult angles.
The shot looks smooth: His release point is high, he has zero problem elevating over the top of the defender, and he has good touch and consistent and repeatable shot mechanics. The jumper is Ace’s ace in the hole in any given situation, and he’s gone to it repeatedly this season at Rutgers, typically in the midrange. He had to push that easy button frequently because hardly anything was easy within that Scarlet Knights offense; beyond Dylan Harper, his team was not exactly teeming with playmakers or offensive threats who could draw attention away from him.
Kevin O’Connor at Yahoo lists similar strengths, noting that Bailey is very good in the departments of pull-up shooting, athleticism, and versatility, with a soft touch. He labels him a “motor” guy with adaptability. Among the weaknesses are tunnel vision, finishing at the rim, streakiness, shot selection, and defense.
There seems to be some discrepancy about his height. Rutgers had him listed at 6’10” while at the Combine he measured 6’7 1/2 without shoes, weighing 203 pounds. He has a seven-foot wingspan and standing reach of 8’11”. When he does put shoes on, he’ll probably be 6’9″, so there ya go.
Interestingly enough, multiple experts have comped Bailey to Michael Porter Jr. There are some Paul George and Kevin Durant comparisons floating around out there, which feel… like a stretch. Based on a VERY PRELIMINARY scan of highlight reels he looks like a guy who just had an uncontestable shot in college. Who is defending stuff like this? –
You do wonder if he’s going to be able to dribble past NBA defenders and get to the rim, or just inside the paint and closer to the elbow. You also wonder if he even needs to, because his shot is so good that he can probably let it go from anywhere on the floor. He really does look like a pure shotmaker.
RE: fit, Bailey is 18 years old and a bunch of these writeups note that he’s an upside guy. You ask yourself if that fits the current Sixers window. How much does he contribute in year one with the Joel Embiid and Paul George window fast closing? Does it even matter since you have Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain? Does a Bailey/Maxey/McCain trio provide a foundation for the future?
Early reaction – it seems like there’s a wide range of opinions on Bailey. High potential ceiling, currently low floor in the spots where he needs to improve. Certainly that can change. And you ask yourself why Rutgers wasn’t that good with both Bailey and Dylan Harper on the team. I guess the rest of the team wasn’t rife with top-three draft projections.
We will dive more into that over the next week few weeks, but one thing is for certain, whomever the Sixers select, they will suffer a debilitating injury or ailment that will keep them out for months, maybe even their entire rookie year. What’s it going to be for the #3 overall pick in June? Tuberculosis? Leprosy? Sesame seed allergy? Thoracic Outlet Syndrome?
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com