One of the biggest storylines ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft is where Rutgers star forward Ace Bailey lands among the first few picks. Bailey once projected as a shoo-in to be selected after Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Rutgers’ Dylan Harper — no matter who had the No. 3 pick — but that might no longer be the case.
ESPN reported that Bailey canceled his pre-draft workout with the Philadelphia 76ers — the owners of the No. 3 overall pick — and hasn’t publicly conducted a pre-draft workout with a team to date.
While Philadelphia still may draft Bailey, one person who doesn’t appear to be the biggest fan of the idea is Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. Shapiro, who is a 76ers fan, expressed concern about his team drafting one of the most polarizing players in the class after he canceled the workout with the team.
“I just don’t like that,” Shapiro told the Men at Work podcast about Bailey not working out with the 76ers. “He’s got great talent, great upside, but if you don’t want to be here, if you’re not dying to be here, I don’t want you to be here.”
76ers star Paul George on Ace Bailey canceling workouts: ‘You’re not in a position to be making those demands’
Robby Kalland
Bailey’s upside as a scorer pushes NBA decision-makers to value him as a top pick, but his process leading up to the draft raised red flags.
‘I’m worried about that,” Shapiro said. “If you’re not coming to work out, then you’ve got something wrong here. I’ve already sent a message about that.”
Bailey’s shot selection at Rutgers was questionable, at times, but he made 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, he shot 10 of 33 (30.3%). Bailey’s 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. “What might be a bad shot to you, you don’t work on it. I work on it.”
Rutgers listed Bailey as 6-foot-10, however he measured 6-7.5 without shoes at the NBA Draft Combine. There were concerns that Bailey would measure shorter than expected, and that’s what came to fruition. Fewer than 36 hours until the draft and it’s still unclear where Bailey might end up. Bailey (+175) is the favorite to go to the Washington Wizards with the No. 6 overall pick, per FanDuel.
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