Get to know Ace Bailey
Ace Bailey sits down with Andy Katz to discuss this year's NBA Draft and what he brings to the table.
Overview
Ace Bailey was born in Tennessee and went to Boyd-Buchanan for one season before transferring to McEachern in Georgia. He was named Mr. Georgia Basketball in 2024 and also earned McDonald’s All-American, Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic honors. The consensus five-star recruit picked Rutgers, joining Dylan Harper, over Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon and Texas. In his lone collegiate season, Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals in 33.4 minutes per game. He posted 46/35/69 shooting splits on 14.7 field-goal attempts, 4.5 3-point tries and 3.6 free-throw attempts per game. He earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors and was named Third-Team All-Big Ten.
Analysis
Bailey is an elite shooter from anywhere on the court and used his size to get his shot off whenever he wanted in college. He’s great as a spot-up shooter and will attack poor closeouts, but settles for mid-range jumpers instead of getting to the rim. He’s better at attacking the rim in transition than in half-court settings. Bailey put up strong defensive production in college and has the length to be elite on that end of the court as a pro, but he needs to get stronger to make that happen. He’s also a much better offensive rebounder than a defensive one, which will need to change as a pro.
Quotable
“Ace is a pure, pure talent. Being able to shoot the ball with that type of touch from anywhere. It’s insane the shots that he can make over multiple people at that length.” — 15-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, who is one of Bailey’s favorite NBA players
Some stats & tidbits
Bailey scored 527 points in 2024-25, the second most ever by a Rutgers freshman, behind teammate Dylan Harper (564) … Mother, Ramika McGee (West Virginia), and father, Richard Bailey (Houston), played college basketball … Nephew of Venus Lacy, who played in the WNBA and was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic gold-medal-winning team … Youth football coach gave him the nickname “Ace” … Worked out with two-time Kia MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo before the 2024-25 season
Projection
Bailey’s size and shooting ability immediately bring Kevin Durant (6-foot-11, 240), Michael Porter (6-foot-10, 218), Brandon Miller (6-foot-7, 200) and Jabari Smith (6-foot-10, 220) to mind. Similar to Porter and Miller, Bailey could immediately be a solid third offensive option for a team with a great playmaker already, but it’ll take a couple of years before he’s developed into a polished offensive product. While there are visions of Durant when watching Bailey play, Durant’s development coming into the league was well ahead of where Bailey is now. Smith had a promising start to his career, but his development was put on hold when the Rockets emerged as contenders this season.
— Profile by RotoWire.com