Source -- Jazz weren't among Ace Bailey's preferred landing spots - ESPN

NEW YORK — In the first surprise of the 2025 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz took a swing on drafting Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, one of the biggest talents — and mysteries — in this year's class.

After the Jazz took him with the No. 5 pick, Utah president of basketball operations Austin Ainge told ESPN, «We really like him as a player, and a fit in our program.»

Bailey said he had «no idea» the Jazz were interested in drafting him. Utah also was not among his preferred destinations, a source told ESPN's Jonathan Givony in the leadup to the NBA draft.

Bailey said, however, that he feels he'll mesh well with his new teammates.

«I feel like once I come in, it's going to be a lot of work,» he said. «I feel like I'm a person that likes to work out a lot. I'm going to push my teammates to be the best they can be. I want to come in and be a leader as a young cat.»

Bailey's pre-draft strategy had been the biggest source of intrigue in the days leading up to the draft. He was projected for most of the season to be a top-three pick and entered Wednesday ranked No. 3 on ESPN's Top 100 prospects list, but he was the only American player who, entering draft night, hadn't conducted a single workout with an NBA team.

That fueled a belief that Bailey and his camp had a preferred destination in mind that was outside of the top five, and as a result, he began to slide down draft projections. In ESPN's final mock draft, he was projected to go to the Washington Wizards with the sixth overall selection.

Bailey was a hotly debated prospect among NBA teams all season. At 6-foot-9 in shoes with tantalizing shotmaking ability, he has the size to be a big wing, the most valuable positional archetype to be found in the league today. However, Bailey is