2025 NBA Draft Prospect Part 2

[BoyzNTheHood]

Let’s pump the brakes on Ace being a Kevin Durant type of player. That’s wild. As of today I’m putting him in that MPJ, Tim Thomas category. Drool worthy talent, but he needs to show a lot more than just scoring.

Not Tim Thomas. Rashard Lewis, MPJr.

Same archetype.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Gonna be tougher to pick between Ace and Harper. If Toronto is the second pick I’d be sweating as Masai lol

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Let’s pump the brakes on Ace being a Kevin Durant type of player. That’s wild. As of today I’m putting him in that MPJ, Tim Thomas category. Drool worthy talent, but he needs to show a lot more than just scoring.

Not Tim Thomas. Rashard Lewis, MPJr.

Same archetype.

I love his rebounding, effort and help defense as a shot blocker. Even if he doesn’t turn into some elite isolation scorer he does at least look like a capable catch and shoot movement shooter at worst.

MPJ doesn’t ever really try on defense, I don’t think Rashard had the difficult shot making ability to the same degree. I have Ace in a higher tier than these guys in terms of ceiling

Of course anything can happen and he can end up sucking, but the eye test as the season has gone on has been positive

[Basketball_Jones]

I’ve been liking Ace more and more. But he’s going to have a steep learning curve in the NBA, especially if he goes to a really crappy team with little ball movement or creators for him. The awkward athleticism will make him a weak drive and finisher. Similar to OG. Stellar athlete until you ask him to dribble around defenders. But he should be a good or solid movement shooter from the get go until he figures out how to handle the ball at the nba level.

[Clutch0z24]

Let’s pump the brakes on Ace being a Kevin Durant type of player. That’s wild. As of today I’m putting him in that MPJ, Tim Thomas category. Drool worthy talent, but he needs to show a lot more than just scoring.

Not Tim Thomas. Rashard Lewis, MPJr.

Yeah but also that could be his floor....His peak if he develops right he very may reach that prime Paul George type or maybe higher....His shot making ability is kind of ridiculous....All the best NBA players have that kind of skill...

[Son Goku 25]

Let’s pump the brakes on Ace being a Kevin Durant type of player. That’s wild. As of today I’m putting him in that MPJ, Tim Thomas category. Drool worthy talent, but he needs to show a lot more than just scoring.

Not Tim Thomas. Rashard Lewis, MPJr.

Yeah but also that could be his floor....His peak if he develops right he very may reach that prime Paul George type or maybe higher....His shot making ability is kind of ridiculous....All the best NBA players have that kind of skill...

The way he pulls up from the perimeter not many guys can do that in the league and he gets a lot of elevation like tmac plus he's 6'10. Again, he'll need to work on his dribbling and overall play making but that's something that can come with a better feel for the game as it slows down for him. He's really hard to judge. His shot kinda reminds me of Paul George too.

[ArthurVandelay]

How could we possibly get another pick to grab maluach? indy + whatever?

Raptors pick 1
Utah picks 2

Raps trade down for 2 and 12…also I’m not there on Maluach.

That Indy pick shouldn’t be touched imo

[RomaniaLuvTR]

Love Bailey more and more and l like him more then Harper as a fit for us...i maintain my top 3 Flagg Bailey Jak...dissapointed by Demin

[Jstock12]

The way Bailey has been scoring, combined with Harper's struggles... If this continues for the rest of the season, I think GMs will be praying to not get that #2 pick. Bailey is closing in on Harper in BPM too.

[Brinbe]

Watch on YouTube

The advancement of that dribble drive game and shown ability to get into the paint/attack the rim in a real way is a gamechanger for Ace's overall offensive framework. Clearly more of a dynamic scorer compared to what he showed earlier on when he'd have to settle for tougher middies because he couldn't get closer to the bucket and it's clear that he works on his game/adjusts, which are good traits. The ability to self-create from the perimeter or be a C&S threat was always evident but there's way more there, especially as he continues to get stronger/further improve his handle, which he's already done to an extent.

The rebounding and shotblocking were already strong suits, but obviously there's still room to improve in terms of awareness and reads on the defensive end but he's still super young and he plays pretty hard everytime I've seen him. Just about getting smarter/more experienced and directing/applying that energy in a more positive direction. But he's looking like a solid top 3 pick and would be a nice pairing with Scottie. Really hard to ignore the size/skill and he's showing a bit more of that athletic pop now.

[Yallbecrazy]

Love people declaring that Bailey is already a great NBA player and taking victory laps on people who had him lower earlier.

I don't know if he will bust or be really good, but I still think he has a very high chance of being a bust as his stat comparisons are very similar to Michael Beasley and Marvin Bagley. Those two were excellent college players throughout the whole season as well.

You forget work ethic and progression.

Can't the others be burst too? Why Ace

The only one who can't bust is Cooper Flagg unless he gets injured.

The profile of a tough shot maker with poor assist totals is a cause for concern. I literally mentioned why he has a higher bust chance and it's the assist to turnover ratio. If you looking at high picks who have busted in the past the low assist numbers tend to be a common theme.

[Jstock12]

Love people declaring that Bailey is already a great NBA player and taking victory laps on people who had him lower earlier.

I don't know if he will bust or be really good, but I still think he has a very high chance of being a bust as his stat comparisons are very similar to Michael Beasley and Marvin Bagley. Those two were excellent college players throughout the whole season as well.

You forget work ethic and progression.

Can't the others be burst too? Why Ace

The only one who can't bust is Cooper Flagg unless he gets injured.

The profile of a tough shot maker with poor assist totals is a cause for concern. I literally mentioned why he has a higher bust chance and it's the assist to turnover ratio. If you looking at high picks who have busted in the past the low assist numbers tend to be a common theme.

The low assist numbers combined with a bad ast/to ratio basically signals poor feel for the game, which was also corroborated by some of Bailey's game tape analysis. It's a thing you can improve though. Maybe Bailey is one of those guys who simply picked up organized basketball pretty late (early-mid teens?) and that's why his bball IQ is still on the low end. I'd be more worried if he actually played organized bball since he was 8, that might lead me to believe he just doesn't have the ability to process the game at a high enough level/speed.

[ArthurVandelay]

No assists or FT attempts for Ace....still riding that train to the final stop though.

[ATLTimekeeper]

You forget work ethic and progression.

Can't the others be burst too? Why Ace

The only one who can't bust is Cooper Flagg unless he gets injured.

The profile of a tough shot maker with poor assist totals is a cause for concern. I literally mentioned why he has a higher bust chance and it's the assist to turnover ratio. If you looking at high picks who have busted in the past the low assist numbers tend to be a common theme.

The low assist numbers combined with a bad ast/to ratio basically signals poor feel for the game, which was also corroborated by some of Bailey's game tape analysis. It's a thing you can improve though. Maybe Bailey is one of those guys who simply picked up organized basketball pretty late (early-mid teens?) and that's why his bball IQ is still on the low end. I'd be more worried if he actually played organized bball since he was 8, that might lead me to believe he just doesn't have the ability to process the game at a high enough level/speed.

AB: Well, I played all three sports — basketball, baseball, and football. I've been playing since what…I started basketball at three [years old], baseball at four [years old], and football at five [years old]. So I started like that. But I started taking it really seriously around sixth, seventh grade. It was when I thought I could actually be good and I could actually take this somewhere.

He comes from a basketball family. The low A:TO could just be that he hit a wall where his athleticism didn't stick out as much, and he's been unable to create advantages to make easy plays for his teammates. It's definitely something to watch for at the next level.

Same interview he also says his passing is the most underrated part of his game. Which I guess could be true, since he never does it.

This is the style he wants to play and he's putting together a strong stretch of games to make his case.

[God Squad]

No assists or FT attempts for Ace....still riding that train to the final stop though.

He still had a great game efficiency-wise, plus he got downhill a couple of times ( which is a plus for him). Ace has had a resurgence for the past week and a half. He's pretty much locked for a top 3 pick. If he can continue the remainder of the season at this level, it's over for Jak, VJ or whomever.

Watch on YouTube

Edit : BPM 6.1 now, OPM 4.9 now and DPM 1.2. He's literally turned his season around.

[Yallbecrazy]

You forget work ethic and progression.

Can't the others be burst too? Why Ace

The only one who can't bust is Cooper Flagg unless he gets injured.

The profile of a tough shot maker with poor assist totals is a cause for concern. I literally mentioned why he has a higher bust chance and it's the assist to turnover ratio. If you looking at high picks who have busted in the past the low assist numbers tend to be a common theme.

The low assist numbers combined with a bad ast/to ratio basically signals poor feel for the game, which was also corroborated by some of Bailey's game tape analysis. It's a thing you can improve though. Maybe Bailey is one of those guys who simply picked up organized basketball pretty late (early-mid teens?) and that's why his bball IQ is still on the low end. I'd be more worried if he actually played organized bball since he was 8, that might lead me to believe he just doesn't have the ability to process the game at a high enough level/speed.

No doubt he could be a star, he has with his resurgence re-entered my top 10. He's probably closer to 5, but unless he starts getting more than ~2.0-2.5 assists a game the rest of the way I don't think he'll be in my top 5 even if he finishes the year with a 10+ bpm somehow.

[Jerry Lucas]

Yesterday Ace Bailey re-set his new single game high in BPM with 22.1. Was surprised that yesterday's game was higher than his previous single game high of 21.4 vs Indiana where he put up almost 40.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

Lowkey I wouldn't be shocked if he's a more willing passer in the league and he doesn't pass as much at Rutgers because everyone sans Harper stinks. From the tape I've seen, he makes most of his passes to Dylan when he can't get a bucket and if Dylan isn't there you get this game or the one where he dropped 39 taking all the shots.

[UnbelievablyRAW]

I think if we get 2 we should try and trade down for 3 + assets. I think we'd be great with either Dylan or Ace and I'd feel like throwing up if I was Masai having 2 mins to make that call because both could be superstars in different ways

[Jstock12]

Lowkey I wouldn't be shocked if he's a more willing passer in the league and he doesn't pass as much at Rutgers because everyone sans Harper stinks. From the tape I've seen, he makes most of his passes to Dylan when he can't get a bucket and if Dylan isn't there you get this game or the one where he dropped 39 taking all the shots.

True. It could be the case that he doesn't trust neither the coach nor his teammates.

This was him taking a turnaround one-legged fadeaway shot being contested by two guys from the front and the side while there were 23 seconds left on the shotclock He actually made this shot. To me it was both the dumbest and the most impressive shot making highlight of his. Maybe he's just another Dirk/KD/Curry and what we think are "bad shots" are actually good? We'll see.