SALT LAKE CITY — No. 5 draft pick Ace Bailey’s debut in a Utah Jazz uniform featured more dirty work than flashes of his scoring potential, which wasn’t necessarily a disappointment to his new coaches.
Bailey finished with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting in the Jazz’s 93-89 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Saturday’s Salt Lake City Summer League opener. He was outshined by Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe, the No. 3 pick who had 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while going 13-of-27 from the floor.
However, with the game on the line, Edgecombe missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the score. Bailey grabbed the defensive rebound with four seconds left and hit one of two free throws to seal the Jazz’s victory.
“Man, it was great,” said Bailey, whose best highlight was soaring well above the rim to reject a layup attempt. “We won too, so that made it a plus. It was fun.”
Following a few days postdraft when Bailey’s desire to play in Utah or even report to the Jazz were in doubt, the 18-year-old impressed his coaches with his physical, active defensive effort and by grabbing seven rebounds in his 25 minutes, several of which were in traffic, including the clutch defensive board.
“All that stuff isn’t talked about enough,” Jazz coach Will Hardy told ESPN, referring to the 6-foot-8, 210-pound Bailey’s ability and willingness to defend and rebound. “The offense will come. He’s learning a new system and new people and has been worked hard the last four days [in practice].
“He’s an NBA body and athlete. He’s a great teammate too. I’ve had nothing but positive reviews from all the coaches and his teammates this first week.”
The Jazz intended to help ease Bailey’s transition to the NBA by having Omar Cooper Jr. — the son of Bailey’s advisor who just finished his career at McNeese State and plans to enter coaching — serve as an unpaid guest coach during summer league. That plan was called off after the league office contacted the Jazz to raise concerns, sources told ESPN.
Bailey reported to Utah last weekend and expressed enthusiasm about joining the Jazz, saying he is “just blessed to be in the position I am.” The Jazz have been encouraged by his work ethic during summer league practices and individual workouts.
It also was notable that Bailey remained engaged while sitting out for almost all of crunch time in a close game Saturday. He was standing in front of the Jazz bench and animatedly cheering for his teammates during that stretch.
Bailey grabbed the aforementioned defensive rebound on the possession immediately after checking back into the game following his extended rest.
Utah drafted Bailey, who averaged 17.6 points during his lone season at Rutgers, despite him declining to work out for the Jazz because they believed he was the best player on the board and had star potential, particularly as a scorer. But Bailey never got into an offensive groove during his summer league opener, and he forced a few questionable shots.
“Offensively, we can do a little bit better job probably getting him involved,” said Scott Morrison, the Jazz assistant who is serving as Utah’s head coach during the Salt Lake City Summer League. “We’ll chip away at that. The nice thing about summer league is it doesn’t really matter what the result is. It’s more important that he has some things to watch on film tomorrow morning.
“This two weeks is basically a crash course in the NBA, and when you’re coming from the college level, especially as an 18-year-old kid, all those things that have nothing to do with scoring or shooting are way more important to establish to get on the court. Then once he establishes those things — where he can help the team in a positive manner without scoring — we can worry about his shot selection.”
