With the 2025 NBA Draft just one week away, one top prospect has taken an unusual approach to his pre-draft process that has made his predicting landing spot difficult.
Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, who’s been projected as high as the third-best prospect in the 2025 class, is “the only player who has yet to conduct a single workout” with any NBA team, according to a report from ESPN.
Bailey isn’t making this decision by himself. Rather, his team has declined invites from teams and stated “they believe he is a top-3 player in the draft” as their rationale. Bailey’s agent is Omar Cooper, the C.E.O and Founder of LifeStyle Sports Agency.
Cooper and Bailey’s actions have reportedly “rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.”
Regardless of Bailey’s unwillingness to work out for teams, he’s an enigma of a prospect in general. He has a unorthodox shot-selection as he’s a longer and taller player who tends to take early-shot clock and contested jump shots, yet has shown an ability to convert on those shots at a high rate.
However, that shot has become rare in the NBA as the league has been taken over by analytics, which detail that layups and 3-pointers are the most efficient shots. His shot profile, combined with his avoidance of workouts, have resulted in these negative reports.
Another factor is that his team has made it clear that he is seeking a specific role on his arrival to whichever team selects him.
“(Bailey’s circle) is looking for a clear path to starter minutes and opportunity. Bailey’s camp seems to feel confident that if Philadelphia… or Charlotte at four decide to pass on him… then somebody is going to trade up to get him. A lot of uncertainty on where he’s going to end up.”
Bailey is scheduled to work out with the Philadelphia 76ers — who own the third pick — later this week. But, they are reportedly more likely to draft Baylor guard VJ Edgecombe.
If that’s true, and Bailey ends up not working out for another team before the June 25th Draft, then his stock will be hard to gauge as teams who have yet to see him in their facility will be deciding his NBA fate.
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