Taken with the fifth pick in the 2025 draft, Bailey comes into the league with a reputation as a score-first player who could turn into an above-average defender. During his one season with Rutgers, Bailey averaged 17.6 points to go with 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 combined steals and blocks. Having traded away John Collins, it would appear as though the Jazz are all in on Bailey as a starting forward alongside Lauri Markkanen. The spanner in the works could be the fact that Kyle Filipowski was a standout performer during the recent Summer League, while Taylor Hendricks will return from injury, before which he was playing as a starter. No matter his exact role, Bailey should see close to 30 minutes per night right out of the gate. Efficiency could be an issue, a common problem among offensive-minded rookies. Expect Bailey to garner a lot of attention from opposing defenses, to which his response will be worth monitoring. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a two-year, $18.59 million contract with the Jazz in July of 2025. Contract includes $9.98 million team option for 2027-28.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary
Bailey was born in Tennessee and went to Boyd-Buchanan for one season before transferring to McEachern in Georgia. He was named Mr. Georgia Basketball in 2024 and also earned McDonald's All-American, Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic honors. The consensus five-star recruit picked Rutgers, joining Dylan Harper, over Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon and Texas. In his lone collegiate season, Bailey averaged 17.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.0 steals in 33.4 minutes per game. He posted 46/35/69 shooting splits on 14.7 field-goal attempts, 4.5 three-point tries and 3.6 free-throw trips per game. He earned Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors and was named Third-Team All-Big Ten. Bailey is an elite shooter from anywhere on the court and used his size to get his shot off whenever he wanted in college. He's great as a spot-up shooter and will attack poor closeouts but settles for mid-range jumpers instead of getting all the way to the rim. He's better at attacking the rim in transition than in half-court settings. Bailey put up strong defensive production in college and has the length to be elite on that end of the court as a pro, but he needs to get stronger to make that happen. He's also a much better offensive rebounder than a defensive one, which will need to change as a pro. Bailey's size and shooting ability immediately bring Kevin Durant (6'11, 240), Michael Porter (6'10, 218), Brandon Miller (6'7, 200) and Jabari Smith (6'10, 220) to mind. Similar to Porter and Miller, Bailey could immediately be a solid third offensive option for a team with a great playmaker already, but it'll take a couple of years before he's developed into a polished offensive product. While there are visions of Durant when watching Bailey play, Durant's development coming into the league was well ahead of where Bailey is now. Smith had a promising start to his career, but his development was put on hold when the Rockets emerged as contenders this season.
Swats three shots in win
FUtah Jazz
December 1, 2025
Bailey registered 13 points (5-11 FG, 3-8 3Pt), three rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals in 28 minutes during Monday's 133-125 victory over Houston.
ANALYSIS Bailey did the majority of his scoring from beyond the arc and has now drilled three treys in back-to-back appearances. He also provided an unexpected boost on the opposite end, recording a season-high three blocks. The rookie continues to show that he's gaining confidence at the NBA level, scoring in double figures in six of his last seven games.
2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Starting/Off Bench
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Days Rest
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Vs Opp
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2025
Stat Review
How does Ace Bailey compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
True Shooting %
An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
Effective Field Goal %
A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
3-Point Attempt Rate
Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
Free Throw Rate
Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
Offensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Defensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Total Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Assist %
An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
Steal %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
Block %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
Turnover %
An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
Usage %
An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
Fantasy Points Per Game
NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
Fantasy Points Per Minute
NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
55.3%
Effective Field Goal %
53.6%
3-Point Attempt Rate
45.8%
Free Throw Rate
11.5%
Offensive Rebound %
6.9%
Defensive Rebound %
9.3%
Total Rebound %
8.1%
Assist %
10.7%
Steal %
1.5%
Block %
1.3%
Turnover %
10.8%
Usage %
18.8%
Fantasy Points Per Game
18.7
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.8
Total
Per Game
Per 36
NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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NBA Per Game Historical Fantasy Stats
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NBA Per 36 Historical Fantasy Stats
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Historical ADP
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Jazz Depth Chart
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Ace Bailey was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
Minutes
FanDuel
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Yahoo
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Sorare
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ANALYSIS Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Won't return Friday
FUtah Jazz
Knee
November 28, 2025
Bailey won't return to Friday's game against the Kings due to a right knee contusion.
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Ties season scoring high
FUtah Jazz
November 25, 2025
Bailey closed Monday's 134-117 loss to the Warriors with 21 points (8-15 FG, 3-8 3Pt, 2-2 FT), three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal in 29 minutes.
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Pops for 15 points in loss
FUtah Jazz
November 22, 2025
Bailey finished Friday's 144-112 loss to the Thunder with 15 points (6-9 FG, 3-5 3Pt), two rebounds, three assists and three steals over 21 minutes.
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ANALYSIS "He's highly intentional. He, even at 19, fits in with us. He wants to do the right thing always," Love said. "Ten games in, once he gets to 20, he's going to make another step. Once he gets to 40, and once he gets a full season." After a quiet start to his rookie season, Bailey is quickly trending up for the Jazz. Over his last four outings, he's averaging 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 three-pointers on 52.3 percent shooting from the field.