Utah Jazz Select Ace Bailey With Fifth Pick In 2025 NBA Draft

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz selected Rutgers forward Ace Bailey with the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Long seen as the third-best player in the class, Bailey slipped, and the Jazz stopped his slide at No. 5.

The @utahjazz select Ace Bailey with the No. 5 pick in the 2025 @NBA Draft pic.twitter.com/0NUWFDDJka

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 26, 2025

Jazz Select Ace Bailey With Fifth Pick In NBA Draft

Other forwards on the Jazz roster include Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Brice Sensabaugh, KJ Martin, and Lauri Markkanen

Last year, Utah finished with the worst record in the NBA at 17-65. With their first top-five pick in over a decade, they opted to go with both the best available player and, debatably, some of the most upside in the draft.

In his one year with the Scarlet Knights, Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists with 46/34.6/69.2 shooting splits.

Ace Bailey is Utah bound 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SatuMiGPv7

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 26, 2025

About Ace Bailey

Among any single skill possessed by players projected to be selected in the top five picks of the draft, Ace Bailey’s shotmaking might be the most lethal.

Bailey takes shots that few (if any) college players would dare to attempt and makes them at a rate rarely seen at his level.

Using his 6-foot-7.5 frame and high release, the Rutgers forward is a threat to shoot the ball from anywhere on the court, regardless of whether he’s pulling up, shooting off the dribble, firing in transition, or spotted up for a catch-and-shoot.

Ace Bailey + Rutgers | Pistol Ghost Wiper/Ricky pic.twitter.com/0eznvwODUt

— Keandre Ashley (@HoopIntelllect) April 7, 2025

Bailey is comfortable shooting out of face-ups, fadeaways, stationary, or off movement, and did so with speed and precision through most of his freshman season.

The 18-year-old is also a superb vertical athlete, finishing several highlight-reel dunks at the rim over defenders, and may see more opportunities to utilize his leaping ability with better spacing in the NBA. He’s also shown promise scoring with his left hand on push shots and floaters when he gets into the lane.

Though his ballhandling is a work in progress, Bailey looks to create his own shot often, so if a team does draft him with the idea of developing him into a go-to scoring option, it won’t be a foreign concept to the Tennessee native.

While some may scoff at Bailey’s audacity on offense, he won’t need to be convinced that he can be a high-level scorer at the next level.

Defensively, the wing was willing to get into a low stance on the perimeter and averaged 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals during his freshman season.

Ace Bailey comes over to block the 7’3 Aday Mara. He swatted this ball above the box. pic.twitter.com/H6Q1zKFz8H

— Ricky O’Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) January 13, 2025

Bailey is more of a defensive playmaker than a consistently good defender, but there isn’t a glaring disinterest on that end of the floor, and his height, wingspan, and athleticism combine for an intriguing potential.

Despite his thin frame, Bailey had as many double-digit rebounding games (seven) as he did recording four boards or fewer.

Though he may be the most polarizing prospect among those projected to be selected near the top of the draft, he has a relatively high floor as an NBA player due to his specific strengths.

In a league that prioritizes shooting and size, Bailey has both. Though he may fail to reach the highest end projections that his combination of skills might lend themselves to (Tracy McGrady, Carmelo Anthony), the NBA is littered with tall shotmakers who have played important roles on good teams.

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With outcomes that could resemble Kyle Kuzma, Bobby Portis, Michael Porter Jr., Bojan Bogdanovic, Lauri Markkanen, Brandon Miller, Trey Murphy, Jaden McDaniels, and others, there are multiple pathways for Bailey to carve out a long career in the NBA.

Jazz History At Fifth Pick

This is only the second time the Jazz have owned the fifth pick in the NBA Draft, last making the selection in 2014 when they chose Australian guard Dante Exum.

Exum suffered with injuries throughout his career and never lived up to his billing as a leading offensive creator at the point guard position.

The Utah Jazz will select Dante Exum with the No. 5 pick in the NBA Draft, league source tells Yahoo Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 26, 2014

The guard spent five full seasons in Utah before the Jazz traded him in 2019 for future Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson.

The Jazz have owned a top-five pick only six times in franchise history.

Best Players Selected With Fifth Overall Pick

There have been 30 All-Stars selected with the fifth pick in NBA history, including De’Aaron Fox, Trae Young, and Darius Garland, who were drafted in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

Kevin Garnett (1995) is debatably the best player selected with the fifth overall pick, and one of 14 Hall of Famers taken with the selection.

Other notables include Charles Barkley (1984), Ray Allen (1996), Vince Carter (1998), Scottie Pippen (1987), and Dwyane Wade (2003).

Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky. 

Chandler Holt is a co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast, a Locals In The NFL Insider, and Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com. Follow Chandler on X for Utah Jazz and Locals In The NFL updates.

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