Projected top-three pick Ace Bailey declares for 2025 NBA Draft
Bailey stared at Rutgers this season averaging 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.
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Rutgers' Ace Bailey, a projected top-three pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, made the expected official on Wednesday and declared for the NBA Draft, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN.
Bailey talked about how much he enjoyed playing at Rutgers — "I felt a lot of love from everyone... I loved being in college and playing college basketball" — and assessed himself in an interview with ESPN.
"I did good. I could have done way better, but I matured this season. The game slowed down for me. My IQ got higher. I got faster and way stronger. My ball-handling and shooting tightened up. Rutgers had me guarding everyone from point guards to power forwards. I learned a lot."
Ace Bailey @NBA Draft
We're taking a look back at the star freshman's highlight-reel dunks for @RutgersMBB#B1GMBBall x @AiriousBpic.twitter.com/HLpMDq5GVp— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) April 23, 2025
Bailey looks like a prototypical wing or stretch four in the NBA: he's 6'10", is a freak athlete, who can create his own shot, and averaged 18.4 points and 7.2 rebounds a game while shooting 36.7% from beyond the arc.
Bailey is a relatively polarizing player for a projected top-three pick, according to scouts who spoke to NBC Sports. His supporters said Bailey may have the highest ceiling of any player in this draft but his detractors questioned whether he could live up to that. He showed flashes of being able to create for others at Rutgers but his passing was inconsistent. Will he thrive in the NBA where the spacing is far better on the floor, or will it be more of the same?
Bailey's potential is so high that he is not going to fall further than No. 4 in the draft, and is most likely a top-three pick (depending on how the NBA Draft Lottery shakes out). With that, he made the smart move by declaring for the draft.
