Rutgers star Ace Bailey is considered the most polarizing player in the 2025 NBA Draft. While some pundits considered him a can’t-miss future superstar, others are concerned about how his unorthodox shot diet will translate to the NBA. Bailey has been projected as a top-five pick for most of this draft cycle, but his range during next week’s draft is hardly set in stone.
Bailey is still the heavy betting favorite to be selected in the top five (-420) of the NBA Draft according to FanDuel sportsbook. He has the second-best odds behind Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe (+280) to go No. 3 to the Philadelphia 76ers and the No. 4 selection (+240) to the Charlotte Hornets.
In CBS Sports’ latest mock draft, Bailey went No. 3 to the 76ers.
With just over a week to go until one of the most exciting events on the basketball calendar, Bailey has yet to conduct a single known workout to date, ESPN reported on Tuesday. Bailey is scheduled to work out with the 76ers later this week, but it’s unclear if the Rutgers star forward has plans to visit any other teams before the NBA Draft begins on June 25.
Why Ace Bailey is the most polarizing prospect in the 2025 NBA Draft and where the Rutgers star would fit best
Cameron Salerno
“Bailey’s camp has informed interested teams that they believe he is a top-3 player in the draft, but also seeks a clear pathway to stardom, perhaps feeling comfortable that a team will trade up to get him at Nos. 3 or 4, should he drop,” ESPN’s Jonathan Givony wrote.
Bailey’s upside as a scorer will make NBA decision-makers buy into him being a top-five pick. His shot selection at Rutgers was questionable at times, but he did make some of the toughest-looking jumpers imaginable. Per Synergy, Bailey attempted 81 guarded jumpers this past season. He made 39 of 81 (48.1%) of those attempts.
On unguarded jumpers, Bailey shot 10 of 33 (30.3%). His shot selection mostly came from the midrange, as 62.5% of his field-goal attempts were jumpers.
“The shots I work on in workouts are shots I do in the game,” Bailey told reporters during the NBA Draft Combine last month. “What might be a bad shot to you, you don’t work on it. I work on it.”
Bailey was listed at 6-foot-10 on his official bio page at Rutgers. Bailey measured 6-7.5 without shoes at the NBA Draft Combine last month. There were concerns that Bailey would measure shorter than expected, and that’s what came to fruition.
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