Ace Bailey

[tontoz]

Why doesn't Bailey have Superstar potential?

How many of Bailey's games did you watch? I don't remember you posting about him at all when he was actually playing.

I watched Bailey's games because I was scouting Harper. I stopped posting because the Wizards suck and there wasn't anything to talk about until now. People in the NBA don't even play defense. They score like 130 points in a game routinely. I'm I really supposed to believe that Ace can't score? Everyone can score in the NBA. Payton Pritchard is averaging 14 a game. Who would you take 18 year old Jaylen Brown or 18 year old Ace Bailey? The only argument seems to be that Ace is dumb/lazy/won't work on his game. But that wouldn't explain how his game is so advanced as an 18 year old.

So you were watching Rutgers games to watch Harper now all of a sudden after the season you want to argue that Ace is a potential superstar after not posting about him all season? Do you realize that is weird?

[jasonxxx102]

I don't get the hate for Ace. His offensive skill is already so advanced. We can criticize the shot selection but he shoots better from 2 than Brandon Miller and Jayson Tatum did in college. And this is on a team with no floor spacing. I've seen Beasley comps and Melo comps. Melo was a great player and Beasley had off the court issues. In a draft where the vast majority of players don't have star Bailey dropping to the second half of the lottery is insane. The kid is only 18. This is the worst he's going to be. In 3 or 4 years, he's going to nearly impossible to stop. And he also has two way potential. What am I missing here? Why are people so low on him? Because Rutgers wasn't good?

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He can barely create separation against college defenders, what do you think is gonna happen in the NBA. He has no handle either which doesn't bode well for his shot creation talent at the next level

Every defense he played against sent multiple defenders at Ace. No one was guarding him one-on-one. His handle can improve look at any all-star wing in the last 15 years. In the NBA with 3-point shooters around him defenders won't have a chance. This take is actually laughable. So you're trying to tell me a prime Ace Bailey won't be able to use a PnR and draw a switch onto Jokic or Sabonis or Myles Turner or a smaller guard and attack? C'mon man.

You keep saying "prime Ace Bailey" and I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean. He's clearly not a PnR ball handler so that example is not really very relevant. His handle is below average for a shot creating wing, maybe it improves, maybe it doesn't. It's going to depend on his team and his role.

The things I said are just accurate observations of his game, if you want to laugh at the reality that's fine. His shot selection is all time bad, and he played next to another top 3 pick.

He's an average at best 3pt shooter and probably slightly less in the NBA with the line farther back. He's a below average FT shooter, poor finisher at the rim, and doesn't create separation in 1/1 situations. He just goes through or shoots over guys which isn't a translatable skill.

Now you could tell me that his rim pressure will be a valuable skill if the handle improves and he works on his off-ball game and the rim finishing improves as he gets stronger over time. You could tell me that he's going to be a good-great defender simply due to his physical profile. I don't doubt that he has the potential to be a good NBA player but you're talking about the guy like he's a no brainer super star.

I don't see the natural instincts or feel for the game that the great playmaking wings have and that is going to limit his ceiling because he's not going to be able to bully guys in the NBA>

[prime1time]

How is that Bailey can't create separation when his 2 point % as a freshman is higher than other stars? Cade Cunningham shot 46.1% on twos. Kevin Durant shot 50.5% on twos. Anthony Edwards shot 50.4% on 2s. Jayson Tatum shot 50.4% from 2. Ace shot 51.1% on 2s. Like what are we really arguing here? Is it that Ace can't get separation or that Ace is getting two his spot? How am I supposed to make sense of the fact that Ace won't be able to score in the NBA, can't get separation and can't dribble when he's doing better on 2 point fg's than all of these other guys? I feel like this is an early April fools joke. He takes tough shots and he's better than all these guys as freshmen. And these guys are the best in the league at wing scoring on 2 point fg's. I've seen the Jabari Smith comparison. Smith shot 43.5% on 2s. Brandon Miller shot 48.3% on 2s. Ace is better at 2s than every player I've listed.

People on this board are deluding themselves. Ace is getting to his spot and elevating. That's why his 2 point % is show higher than all these other guys. He saw that teams are packing the paint against Rutgers and was like bet, I'll just shoot it. And he's been better than all these stars inside the 3-point line. I'll be sure to come back to this post in 4 years. The number of players in the history of the NBA who have been more skilled than Ace at 18 and are his height are taller is very very small.

[jasonxxx102]

This is why watching is important. Nobody can tell me with a straight face that Ace Bailey is creating separation with his handle. Why are we even comparing raw FG% between other random players? Meaningless.

"getting to his spot" is the new unable to beat your man so you have to take a low percentage mid range pull up and shoot over the guy.

There's a big difference between some random future accountant at Iowa and being guarded by Lu Dort

[babyjax13]

Early in the year Ace couldn't turn the corner at all and was forcing up a lot of junk shots. Halfway through the season (after Harper got hurt) he started turning the corner and getting to the rim. He still takes a lot of those tough shots, but he was creating *more* separation (as in...sometimes he created a little separation instead of jab-stepping and pulling up). I do think it is still a work in progress, but at least he wasn't stagnant through the entire year. I can't speak to the end of the year because work has been so busy - but I'm pretty comfortable taking a chance of Ace top 4 and I have him and Tre around even at 3/4.

Defensively I think he's actually really active and that's what makes me feel more confident some of the offensive stuff will get worked out.

[tontoz]

Early in the year Ace couldn't turn the corner at all and was forcing up a lot of junk shots. Halfway through the season (after Harper got hurt) he started turning the corner and getting to the rim. He still takes a lot of those tough shots, but he was creating *more* separation (as in...sometimes he created a little separation instead of jab-stepping and pulling up). I do think it is still a work in progress, but at least he wasn't stagnant through the entire year. I can't speak to the end of the year because work has been so busy - but I'm pretty comfortable taking a chance of Ace top 4 and I have him and Tre around even at 3/4.

Defensively I think he's actually really active and that's what makes me feel more confident some of the offensive stuff will get worked out.

Yeah i like Ace and have him at 3 but he isn't a flawless prospect. He did show noticable improvement from early in the year to midseason. I think he took the foot off the gas late in the year when it became apparent they weren't a tournament team. He got to the foul line only 6 times total in his last 5 games. I think he was just trying to avoid an injury.

[babyjax13]

Early in the year Ace couldn't turn the corner at all and was forcing up a lot of junk shots. Halfway through the season (after Harper got hurt) he started turning the corner and getting to the rim. He still takes a lot of those tough shots, but he was creating *more* separation (as in...sometimes he created a little separation instead of jab-stepping and pulling up). I do think it is still a work in progress, but at least he wasn't stagnant through the entire year. I can't speak to the end of the year because work has been so busy - but I'm pretty comfortable taking a chance of Ace top 4 and I have him and Tre around even at 3/4.

Defensively I think he's actually really active and that's what makes me feel more confident some of the offensive stuff will get worked out.

Yeah i like Ace and have him at 3 but he isn't a flawless prospect. He did show noticable improvement from early in the year to midseason. I think he took the foot off the gas late in the year when it became apparent they weren't a tournament team. He got to the foul line only 6 times total in his last 5 games. I think he was just trying to avoid an injury.

Yah, his percentages are horrifying in that last 11 game stretch. The question has to be how real each distinct stretch of the season was - depending on your answer, you probably have a very different opinion of him as a prospect.

[prime1time]

This is why watching is important. Nobody can tell me with a straight face that Ace Bailey is creating separation with his handle. Why are we even comparing raw FG% between other random players? Meaningless.

"getting to his spot" is the new unable to beat your man so you have to take a low percentage mid range pull up and shoot over the guy.

There's a big difference between some random future accountant at Iowa and being guarded by Lu Dort

Wow Bailey actually has haters. He must be doing something right.

[prime1time]

I'm going to coin a new phrase - basketball inflation. When people know a player has superstar potential, they start nitpicking and scrutinizing and analyzing every little thing because so many prospects have the expectation put on them but then don't live up to it. As fans they don't know why, so they now become hypercritical "scouts." No more critical analysis. Just "hot takes" and ignoring any evidence that doesn't support their preconceived notion that said player "will not make succeed." We go from scouting players to needing to be right.

"Ace can't get to the rim because he sucks and will always suck." Even if this were true - and it's not - haven't we seen wing players improve throughout their careers at getting to the rim? I'm a Wizard fan. We drafted Beal and all he did was shoot 3's, come off screens and have straight line drives to the hoop at Florida. In his prime he got to the rim at will.

You ignore his 2 point fg% because it questions the entire narrative. By itself 2 point fg% doesn't tell us a whole lot, but it's very helpful to put a players play in context. For example when Kevin Durant was at Texas he played with DJ Augustin. A pg that went on to play 14 years in the NBA. KD also played with AJ Abrams a player who - the season KD was Texas - shot 42.3% from 3 on 8.1 3 point attempts a game. For that matter Augustin shot 44.1% from 3 on 2.9 attempts and averaged 6.7 assists. Justin Mason also played for that Texas team and he shot 39.8% from 3 on 2.5 attempts. He also played with Damion James a first round pick. So KD in college played on a team loaded with talent that had pretty good floor spacing. He played with a legit pass first PG that could set him for good looks. And he had other NBA players around him.

Other than Ace ace and Dylan no other Rutgers was a top 100 recruit. The third leading scorer was a center Lathan Sommerville who shot 11% from 3. Jeremiah Williams averaged 24 minutes a game and he shot 28% from 3 on 1.5 attempts. Jordan Derkack played 17 minutes a game and he shot 25% from 3 on 1.4 attempts a game. At 15.5 minutes a game was the first legit floor spacer Tyson Acuff. He shot 39% from 3 on 3 attempts a game (and remarkably 36% on 2 point fg's). Jamichael Davis played 18 minutes a game and he shot 33% from 3 on 1.3 attempts.

If you were a coach playing Rutgers this year what would be your defensive strategy? Obviously it would be to make anyone other than Harper or Bailey beat you. If someone else makes a shot fine. You'd live with that. But at all times, you are going to stick to Harper and Ace like glue and as soon as they get the ball you are going to help off the other 2 wings and the Big is going to rotate over and take away the driving lane.

[prime1time]

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A good example of this is the play at 2:41. Bailey gets the ball in the corner, he drives baseline, big helps and now Bailey is double teamed. And we get an awkward possession.

I guess the poster above would look at this play and say, "See! Bailey can't drive." But look again Bailey pumps and the defender leaves their feet. Bailey is actually by the defender, but the defender does a good job of rotating early and beats Bailey to the spot. Now people will say, "But Bailey should see the rotating defender and make the right play before he gets trapped." And then they go on to say that this is why he won't be a star.

But what I see is a player who's 95% of the way there. He's good enough as a shooter to draw both a hard close out and to get the defender to bite on the pump fake. 99% of the time when the defender leaves their feet he's cooked. In High School even if the defense rotated over, Bailey's physical ability would let him finish regardless. But now Bailey is faced with another challenge. Defenders with size and length that can stop him. Let me ask a serious question. Is that play evidence of Bailey's never ending struggles and an example of why he can't be a star or is it evidence of a player learning at a new level of basketball?

8:03 Bailey gets the ball on the wing. 1 dribble on the post-up and the double is already coming from the blindside. Bailey ends up throwing a turnover. I ask them same question. Is that an example of Bailey's suckiness and why he can't get by defenders os is it an example of Bailey needing to learn how to handle double teams.

9:30 Bailey gets the ball at the 3-point line, he drives big rotates over Bailey pulls up over him and misses. Again, I ask the same question. Is this an example of why Bailey not being able to be a great player or does he need to learn how to deal with rotating bigs?

10:11 Bailey settles for a jumper (a shot that the opposing team wants him to take) and knocks it down.

16:58 Bailey has a beautiful finish off the glass. I guess for people that don't like Ace they'd probably say this was luck.

19:04 Bailey gets to the rim but it was against a future accountant not Lu Dort so it doesn't count.

24:15 Bailey attracts 3 defenders and knocks down the contested jumper.

28:17 Bailey doubled teamed and just shoots over it and scores.

30:02 Bailey gets a high PnR, defender helps Bailey beats him with an inside out dribble and blows by him, Bailey then side steps the big rushing over to help and finishes the layup.

There's a couple things. One, the notion that Bailey can't get to the rim is a myth. Two - the opposing team is treating Bailey like an elite scorer. Three - Bailey's struggles are not because he's dumb or because he can't get to the rim or because he lacks skills but the natural struggles of a great scorer playing against a team that's schemed to stop him. The Seton Hall defense was locked in. Help defenders were rotating early, double teams were coming quickly and sometimes from the blindside so Bailey couldn't see them coming. And this ratchets up to another level when Harper goes out the game.

[prime1time]

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A good example of this is the play at 2:41. Bailey gets the ball in the corner, he drives baseline, big helps and now Bailey is double teamed. And we get an awkward possession.

I guess the poster above would look at this play and say, "See! Bailey can't drive." But look again Bailey pumps and the defender leaves their feet. Bailey is actually by the defender, but the defender does a good job of rotating early and beats Bailey to the spot. Now people will say, "But Bailey should see the rotating defender and make the right play before he gets trapped." And then they go on to say that this is why he won't be a star.

But what I see is a player who's 95% of the way there. He's good enough as a shooter to draw both a hard close out and to get the defender to bite on the pump fake. 99% of the time when the defender leaves their feet he's cooked. In High School even if the defense rotated over, Bailey's physical ability would let him finish regardless. But now Bailey is faced with another challenge. Defenders with size and length that can stop him. Let me ask a serious question. Is that play evidence of Bailey's never ending struggles and an example of why he can't be a star or is it evidence of a player learning at a new level of basketball?

8:03 Bailey gets the ball on the wing. 1 dribble on the post-up and the double is already coming from the blindside. Bailey ends up throwing a turnover. I ask them same question. Is that an example of Bailey's suckiness and why he can't get by defenders os is it an example of Bailey needing to learn how to handle double teams.

9:30 Bailey gets the ball at the 3-point line, he drives big rotates over Bailey pulls up over him and misses. Again, I ask the same question. Is this an example of why Bailey not being able to be a great player or does he need to learn how to deal with rotating bigs?

10:11 Bailey settles for a jumper (a shot that the opposing team wants him to take) and knocks it down.

16:58 Bailey has a beautiful finish off the glass. I guess for people that don't like Ace they'd probably say this was luck.

19:04 Bailey gets to the rim but it was against a future accountant not Lu Dort so it doesn't count.

24:15 Bailey attracts 3 defenders and knocks down the contested jumper.

28:17 Bailey doubled teamed and just shoots over it and scores.

30:02 Bailey gets a high PnR, defender helps Bailey beats him with an inside out dribble and blows by him, Bailey then side steps the big rushing over to help and finishes the layup.

There's a couple things. One, the notion that Bailey can't get to the rim is a myth. Two - the opposing team is treating Bailey like an elite scorer. Three - Bailey's struggles are not because he's dumb or because he can't get to the rim or because he lacks skills but the natural struggles of a great scorer playing against a team that's schemed to stop him. The Seton Hall defense was locked in. Help defenders were rotating early, double teams were coming quickly and sometimes from the blindside so Bailey couldn't see them coming. And this ratchets up to another level when Harper goes out the game.

Some fans think that a player struggling means they suck and won't be good. But that's because fans focus on the wrong thing. Because struggling and learning look the same people consistently get the two mixed up. Look at the recent comments from Anthony Edwards and double teams. Is Edwards struggling or is he learning? I'd argue that the word struggling connotes a level of inevitably. So you struggle today, you struggle tomorrow, you'll struggle next week, you'll struggle forever. There will never be a time when you don't struggle. But 18 year old budding super stars don't struggle. Great players don't struggle. They learn. Ace spent the entire year treated like an offensive super star.

The question for Ace this season has never been, "can he beat the defender." But rather can he beat the help defender and/or the double team. Ace's worst game of the season was against Michigan. He went 3-15 and 0-7 from 3. Harper was injured and didn't play. Now once again, people would use this as an example of why he sucks. But the reality is that great scorers have to learn to be efficient with their dribbles (something he didn't have to learn in college) and understand that space closes down quickly.

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This is where Ace is going. It's where all great scorers end up. And these struggles were just the start of that process. He never had to do that in High School. And he didn't go to a team loaded with talent that makes his life easier.

Ace doesn't have Kon Knueppel on the wing who shoots 39% from 3. He doesn't have the best lob threat in college basketball Khaman Maluach. He doesn't have Tyrese Proctor who's shooting 41% from 3. For as great as Cooper Flagg is, his roster allows him to be in positions where he doesn't have to force shots. And I would also point out that as good as Dylan Harper is, he only shot 33% from 3.

[JMAC3]

I would agree that it seems like a lot of nitpicking going on with Ace as a prospect.
For those saying he has a bad handle or doesn't get to the rim or isn't a good playmaker or ball handler... I mean what prospects recently were as big wings?

Outside of Flagg this year, is there a wing prospect significantly better at these things than Ace? Kon? McNeely? Essengue?
Or previous drafts? Risacher, Salaun, Holland,Cody W? Miller, Coulibally, Jarace? Hendricks? Jabari? Keegan? Sochan?

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I feel like he is more advanced ball handler, shot creator than probably everyone on this list pretty easily except maybe Miller who is probably turning out to be a Max contract player.

[SeattleJazzFan]

I would agree that it seems like a lot of nitpicking going on with Ace as a prospect.
For those saying he has a bad handle or doesn't get to the rim or isn't a good playmaker or ball handler... I mean what prospects recently were as big wings?

Outside of Flagg this year, is there a wing prospect significantly better at these things than Ace? Kon? McNeely? Essengue?
Or previous drafts? Risacher, Salaun, Holland,Cody W? Miller, Coulibally, Jarace? Hendricks? Jabari? Keegan? Sochan?

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I feel like he is more advanced ball handler, shot creator than probably everyone on this list pretty easily except maybe Miller who is probably turning out to be a Max contract player.

also very few who were as young at the time of the draft. his ballhandling will improve a ton in the next 3-4 years.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Why doesn't Bailey have Superstar potential?

How many of Bailey's games did you watch? I don't remember you posting about him at all when he was actually playing.

I watched Bailey's games because I was scouting Harper. I stopped posting because the Wizards suck and there wasn't anything to talk about until now. People in the NBA don't even play defense. They score like 130 points in a game routinely. I'm I really supposed to believe that Ace can't score? Everyone can score in the NBA. Payton Pritchard is averaging 14 a game. Who would you take 18 year old Jaylen Brown or 18 year old Ace Bailey? The only argument seems to be that Ace is dumb/lazy/won't work on his game. But that wouldn't explain how his game is so advanced as an 18 year old.

anybody who thinks bailey is lazy (at least on the court) has never watched a game. he's plays as hard on both ends as any frosh i've seen. flagg plays really hard - but Ace is right there with him.

[JMAC3]

I would agree that it seems like a lot of nitpicking going on with Ace as a prospect.
For those saying he has a bad handle or doesn't get to the rim or isn't a good playmaker or ball handler... I mean what prospects recently were as big wings?

Outside of Flagg this year, is there a wing prospect significantly better at these things than Ace? Kon? McNeely? Essengue?
Or previous drafts? Risacher, Salaun, Holland,Cody W? Miller, Coulibally, Jarace? Hendricks? Jabari? Keegan? Sochan?

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I feel like he is more advanced ball handler, shot creator than probably everyone on this list pretty easily except maybe Miller who is probably turning out to be a Max contract player.

also very few who were as young at the time of the draft. his ballhandling will improve a ton in the next 3-4 years.

This seems to be a common theme every year where we are comparing wings in the draft vs the elite wings in the NBA that are 25-30 yrs old.

Even comparing guys like Miles Bridges, Deni Avdija, Paul George, Jimmy Butler etc to the player they are now vs the guy they were years 1 and 2 in the NBA they are far more dynamic drivers and finishers of the basketball.

[ReggiesKnicks]

I would agree that it seems like a lot of nitpicking going on with Ace as a prospect.
For those saying he has a bad handle or doesn't get to the rim or isn't a good playmaker or ball handler... I mean what prospects recently were as big wings?

Outside of Flagg this year, is there a wing prospect significantly better at these things than Ace? Kon? McNeely? Essengue?
Or previous drafts? Risacher, Salaun, Holland,Cody W? Miller, Coulibally, Jarace? Hendricks? Jabari? Keegan? Sochan?

Read on Twitter

I feel like he is more advanced ball handler, shot creator than probably everyone on this list pretty easily except maybe Miller who is probably turning out to be a Max contract player.

also very few who were as young at the time of the draft. his ballhandling will improve a ton in the next 3-4 years.

This seems to be a common theme every year where we are comparing wings in the draft vs the elite wings in the NBA that are 25-30 yrs old.

Even comparing guys like Miles Bridges, Deni Avdija, Paul George, Jimmy Butler etc to the player they are now vs the guy they were years 1 and 2 in the NBA they are far more dynamic drivers and finishers of the basketball.

This is true but not everyone improves to the same degree. I guess it's why Ace isn't a prospect in the tier of Flagg but instead in the tier of the 2nd or 3rd tier wing prospects over the past decade.

He clearly goes #1 in 2024 draft though. Probably 5th behind Amen in 2023. Ahead of Murray clearly in 2022, not sure about Jabari though behind Chet/Paolo. Ahead of Barnes in 2021. Probably #1 in 2020.

Ultimately, he is an interesting and intriguing wing prospect with near unlimited potential.

[JMAC3]

also very few who were as young at the time of the draft. his ballhandling will improve a ton in the next 3-4 years.

This seems to be a common theme every year where we are comparing wings in the draft vs the elite wings in the NBA that are 25-30 yrs old.

Even comparing guys like Miles Bridges, Deni Avdija, Paul George, Jimmy Butler etc to the player they are now vs the guy they were years 1 and 2 in the NBA they are far more dynamic drivers and finishers of the basketball.

This is true but not everyone improves to the same degree. I guess it's why Ace isn't a prospect in the tier of Flagg but instead in the tier of the 2nd or 3rd tier wing prospects over the past decade.

He clearly goes #1 in 2024 draft though. Probably 5th behind Amen in 2023. Ahead of Murray clearly in 2022, not sure about Jabari though behind Chet/Paolo. Ahead of Barnes in 2021. Probably #1 in 2020.

Ultimately, he is an interesting and intriguing wing prospect with near unlimited potential.

Yes, not every prospect improves at the same rate but if you had a list of boxes that you wanted to check if a player is going to improve I think Ace checks a lot of them. Very young, Touted #2 high school prospect, productive and has the physical tools that shouldn't hold him back.

Typically the players in the NBA who are allowed or encouraged to be a midrange threat are the superstars- Ace is probably the best midrange player in this class and maybe the past few classes. It is weird to me that so many people are trying to make this out to be a huge negative when it is actually very unique to me should be viewed as a positive moving forward.

[ReggiesKnicks]

This seems to be a common theme every year where we are comparing wings in the draft vs the elite wings in the NBA that are 25-30 yrs old.

Even comparing guys like Miles Bridges, Deni Avdija, Paul George, Jimmy Butler etc to the player they are now vs the guy they were years 1 and 2 in the NBA they are far more dynamic drivers and finishers of the basketball.

This is true but not everyone improves to the same degree. I guess it's why Ace isn't a prospect in the tier of Flagg but instead in the tier of the 2nd or 3rd tier wing prospects over the past decade.

He clearly goes #1 in 2024 draft though. Probably 5th behind Amen in 2023. Ahead of Murray clearly in 2022, not sure about Jabari though behind Chet/Paolo. Ahead of Barnes in 2021. Probably #1 in 2020.

Ultimately, he is an interesting and intriguing wing prospect with near unlimited potential.

Yes, not every prospect improves at the same rate but if you had a list of boxes that you wanted to check if a player is going to improve I think Ace checks a lot of them. Very young, Touted #2 high school prospect, productive and has the physical tools that shouldn't hold him back.

Typically the players in the NBA who are allowed or encouraged to be a midrange threat are the superstars- Ace is probably the best midrange player in this class and maybe the past few classes. It is weird to me that so many people are trying to make this out to be a huge negative when it is actually very unique to me should be viewed as a positive moving forward.

I think we are seeing a shift in stars and superstars taking on the Harden model unless they are GOAT level shot creators (Luka and SGA, for example).

The player(s) I point to regarding mid-range kings and not being stars are Brandon Ingram, Andrew Wiggins and Demar Derozan. Ingram never developed much as a playmaker/passer/3P shooter and isn't a winning player even though his skill set is advanced, and he can get his shot off from the mid-range around or over any defenders.

Ace of course just has so much potential, as did Ingram coming out of college, where you take him at #3 and don't look back because of the what-if factors.

But yeah, Brandon Ingram is a player I view similarly as a prospect to Ace, which isn't a bad thing. Ingram with more defensive aptitude and an interest in shooting more 3's is a very good player. Ace has a better motor than Ingram, which is a massive boon to Ace.

[Upperclass]

He's at worst Trey Murphy or a Jabari Smith.. You take a chance on his shot making top 2 unless theres better upside potential at the following picks

[SeattleJazzFan]

He's at worst Trey Murphy or a Jabari Smith.. You take a chance on his shot making top 2 unless theres better upside potential at the following picks

first, i'm a huge Ace apologist.

Trey Murphy and Jabari Smith are very different players in terms of the success they've had at the NBA level. Jabari is a 12 and 7 guy on subpar efficiency - yeah, that is probably a decent bad case scenario. I think worst case could probably be worse.

Murphy is a 21 ppg guy on good to very good efficiency - Ace could do a lot worse than that. Murphy is bordering on borderline all-star territory.