The Ace Bailey Thread

[GoBobs]

How about Tyrus Thomas as a comparison. Thomas averaged 12.3 points as a college freshman at LSU on 7.8 shot attempts per game.

Bailey averaged 17.6 pts per game on 14.7 shot attempts.

Tyrus Thomas had a .62 true shooting compared to .53 for Ace. That is very scary for a guy that played vs some terrible competition at Rutgers.

[JMAC3]

How about Tyrus Thomas as a comparison. Thomas averaged 12.3 points as a college freshman at LSU on 7.8 shot attempts per game.

Bailey averaged 17.6 pts per game on 14.7 shot attempts.

Tyrus Thomas had a .62 true shooting compared to .53 for Ace. That is very scary for a guy that played vs some terrible competition at Rutgers.

Why is Rutgers terrible competition? The Big Ten sent 2nd most teams to the tourney, every big ten team won their first game in the tourney too. I don't think that says the conference was weak.

[JustBuzzin]

How about Tyrus Thomas as a comparison. Thomas averaged 12.3 points as a college freshman at LSU on 7.8 shot attempts per game.

Bailey averaged 17.6 pts per game on 14.7 shot attempts.

Tyrus Thomas had a .62 true shooting compared to .53 for Ace. That is very scary for a guy that played vs some terrible competition at Rutgers.

Why is Rutgers terrible competition? The Big Ten sent 2nd most teams to the tourney, every big ten team won their first game in the tourney too. I don't think that says the conference was weak.

Yeah saying the Big 10 had terrible competition is crazy.

Rutgers was one of the worst coached teams in the conference. It was literally a 2 man team the players they put around them were all lacking in talent.

Bad coaching and not much talent outside of your 2 star freshman was always going to end in failure.

[amcoolio]

Ace could be reprogrammed into a Siakam, he's got all the tools. But the horrible offball IQ is very concerning. I still think he's the play over VJ, and over Tre, if we plan on keeping LaMelo and Brandon Miller.

[HornetJail]

i've seen the need to be "reprogrammed" about Bailey a couple different times over the last few minutes


do we trust our current organization to "reprogram" anyone into something other than a 3&D player? lol

[Rich4114]

I might be willing to take Ace if VJ is gone, but I'd be highly concerned over the Hornets needing to reprogram anyone in a positive way.

[Bassman]

Must admit the many scout takes on the challenges with Ace are giving me pause. He’s been my top of board (not counting Flagg and Harper) for a while, and he is still very tempting if available. Just not sure what Jeffie will do if his favorite is taken at 3 (let’s just assume it’s VJ, but could be someone likely to go 15th), and Ace is there. Tre or Ace?

[MPM]

This adds good perspective from Rutgers fans who watched/attended games (and some who've met Ace): https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1kn07wv/the_ace_bailey_discourse_has_gone_too_far_in_the/

[JustBuzzin]

One thing I have been consistent on if Ace is available at our pick don't overthink it. Select him and don't think twice about it.

[wilson115]

This adds good perspective from Rutgers fans who watched/attended games (and some who've met Ace): https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/comments/1kn07wv/the_ace_bailey_discourse_has_gone_too_far_in_the/

What is a "kill spot"? Is that how he passes up a three to chuck a long two? Reads like coping.

[Snidely FC]

the question I have is why are people taking Kevin O'Conner and the Barlowe Brothers, among others, words as gospel? I mean they are basically watching highlight "tape" parsing stats and echoing the echo chamber. They are offering opinions just like those of us on this board do when we post. Reprogram him lol.

Meanwhile, former NBA player Demarcus Cousins says Ace reminds him of Tracy McGrady, and Carmelo Anthony and Paul George say Ace Bailey is going to be a star.

When asked, his teammate Dylan Harper also chose McGrady as a comp for Ace. Harper says Ace is a great teammate and future star:

"Just a pro, that's how I would describe him: a pro. I mean, he can score when he wants to,'' Harper said during his NBA combine availability.

''He can playmake, facilitate – he can do everything. But, I mean, all y'all see is scoring. I mean, I think his IQ is very underrated. I think not a lot of people understand his IQ. But once you sit down and you're with him, you understand it.

But for some reason no one is parroting these guys who actually know what they are talking about, choosing instead to believe "pundits."

[MPM]

the question I have is why are people taking Kevin O'Conner and the Barlowe Brothers, among others, words as gospel? I mean they are basically watching highlight "tape" parsing stats and echoing the echo chamber. They are offering opinions just like those of us on this board do when we post. Reprogram him lol.

Meanwhile, former NBA player Demarcus Cousins says Ace reminds him of Tracy McGrady, and Carmelo Anthony and Paul George say Ace Bailey is going to be a star.

When asked, his teammate Dylan Harper also chose McGrady as a comp for Ace. Harper says Ace is a great teammate and future star:

"Just a pro, that's how I would describe him: a pro. I mean, he can score when he wants to,'' Harper said during his NBA combine availability.

''He can playmake, facilitate – he can do everything. But, I mean, all y'all see is scoring. I mean, I think his IQ is very underrated. I think not a lot of people understand his IQ. But once you sit down and you're with him, you understand it.

But for some reason no one is parroting these guys who actually know what they are talking about, choosing instead to believe "pundits."

Ace remains locked in my draft troika. Just letting the noise wash over me.

[Bassman]

Sam Vecenie from his annual draft guide on Ace:

SUMMARY: The ceiling for Bailey is the second-best player in this class if he improves his areas of need. Particularly, he needs to improve his flexibility and ability to play with bend while also getting stronger. That would allow him to access more power and use his gifts across the court in a more functional manner. Once he does that, Bailey would be able to start working on improving his gathers and ball pickups around the rim on his drives to improve his finishing, which would also hopefully get defenders more off-balance and give him more options. That would improve his shooting percentages, which again, even on pull-ups this year, were markedly low. Then on defense, it would allow him to play the leverage game better. Hopefully better engagement on that end would follow, too, but he showed enough upside on that end to become a player. If all of this happens, there’s serious All-Star upside. Anyone who says that doesn’t exist is just flat-out wrong. There is a chance Bailey could morph into a playmaker and star-level difference-maker on the wing.

Ultimately, though, it all feels like a bit of a house of cards to me. He needs to improve the bend and flexibility, which would then improve certain parts of his game, then he’d need to also keep improving the shooting percentage, and oh, by the way, he’d also need to keep improving his ability to make decisions off his drives as a passer, and then on top of that he needs to get locked in more consistently and showcase better engagement on defense regularly. There are just a lot of moving parts that make me somewhat uncomfortable with drafting a player like this in the top five. There are so many areas that need improvement. The good news is there’s a floor here. Already, Bailey is a shooter off the catch and a player with size, length and athleticism who has shown moments on defense at 18 years old. That should allow him to stick in the NBA for a long while, even if the upside case doesn’t totally come together.

Where Bailey lands is probably going to tell the tale of his career. I would love to see him end up in a situation where he can learn to play more consistently off the ball early in his career, develop his feel for the game a bit more and not be thrust into a primary scoring role. That would allow him to develop slowly and work on all the many parts of his game that need development. Think of the players like this archetype who have had success. Jayson Tatum landed in a Boston situation that didn’t rely on him to be the guy until Year 3. Paul George basically came off the bench in Year 1 before blossoming in his third year. Kawhi Leonard didn’t play much on the ball until his fourth year. Bailey is a project. He’s one worth investing in, but it’s going to take time as he continues to mature. Hopefully he lands in a situation that gives him that chance.

[fatlever]

Read on Twitter

[JustBuzzin]

Ace is going to fall in our lap.

Miller/Ace we got our wings for the future Boyz!

[Liver_Pooty]

Ace is going to fall in our lap.

Miller/Ace we got our wings for the future Boyz!

It’s undoubtedly an intriguing pairing. Could be dynamite in 2 or 3 years.

[Diop]

Ace has a very high ceiling and feels like a safer pick than Fears. he's not a guarantee, i get Beasley like fears that his offense wont be enough to make him a good NBA player, but there is only sure bet in this draft and he's going number 1

[Chapelchilla]

A super tall 1/2/3 line up of Ball, Miller and Ace would be great if they can defend and get into the lane on drives. Just not sure if they can make that happen.

[Rich4114]

The one thing that I find most intriguing about Ace if we do end up with him is he could potentially be a guy that backs you down in the mid-range and shoots over you when you need a bucket. Not a lot of guys can do that. Not sure if he can at the NBA level either, but it seems like he did at the NCAA level.

[fatlever]

A super tall 1/2/3 line up of Ball, Miller and Ace would be great if they can defend and get into the lane on drives. Just not sure if they can make that happen.

as loh said last week... if thats the lineup, then miles better get ready to be a bowling ball, cause it will be him that needs to drive the ball over and over and over. but that also applies to tre as well, to a lesser extent, kon.