Utah Jazz Draft Ace Bailey with No. 5 Pick

The Jazz leveraged a top-five at the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday.

Jun 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Ace Bailey arrives before the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The 2025 NBA Draft officially kicked off tonight, with Duke’s Cooper Flagg officially hearing his name called first by the Mavericks, followed up by the Spurs calling on Rutgers guard Dylan Harper.

From there, the next few picks really shaped out how the rest of the lottery could unfold. With the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz selected Ace Bailey.

A 6-foot-9 scoring wing, Bailey’s been the talk of the draft town lately, seeing an interesting pre-draft process that left his eventual landing spot very much up in the air. Still, he’s always offered one of the more talented players in the class with length, athleticism and elite shot-making.

Across 30 games with Rutgers, he scored 17.6 points, nabbed 7.2 rebounds, sent 1.3 blocks and grabbed 1.0 steals per game. There’s plenty of refining needed in Bailey’s game in general — specifically in the shot-selection, decision-making and consistency areas — but if he can hone things in the next few years, he should be a star.

With how stacked the Western Conference is, the Jazz will struggle to compete in the near future, no matter how the draft goes. Even then, the front office and coaching staff is among the most talented in the league and could turn this team around quickly if this offseason goes well.

Per an earlier scouting report from NBA Draft on SI regarding Bailey: "A creative shot-maker, Bailey has the ability to generate looks for himself in isolation and known down very advanced shots. His jumper is fluid and projects to translate moving forward, even as the 3-point line continues to get deeper. He’s also a better facilitator for others than he gets credit for, making him a legitimate offensive engine."

With four total picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, there are quite a few directions that Utah could go. The Jazz have one more first-round pick as of now, which will take place in the mid-twenties. This is a team that needs help in quite a few areas, so drafting the best available from here on out makes a lot of sense.

The next major milestone in the NBA offseason will be the 2025 NBA 2K25 Summer League held in Las Vegas, NV, which will take place from July 10-20.