- Ace Bailey, Jazz's No. 5 draft pick, arrives in Utah, dispelling doubts.
- Bailey, joined by fellow draftees, embraces his new role with optimism.
- Jazz president Ainge praises Bailey's potential, marking a hopeful new era.
SALT LAKE CITY — Ace Bailey took the dais and smiled. In the audience? His small dog Halo, wearing a Jazz handkerchief around its neck.
That was the latest sign that his apparent early reluctance to join the Jazz since being drafted at No. 5 was just a bit overblown.
There were reports that Utah wasn't one of Bailey's preferred destinations. ESPN even reported that his representatives warned one team that Bailey wouldn't report if drafted. That all led to some fan hand-wringing about whether the No. 5 pick would actually come to Utah.
But on Sunday, it looked like much ado about nothing.
"No, not at all," Bailey said when asked if he ever considered not reporting to Utah. "I mean, just blessed to be in this position. Not a lot of people can sit in these chairs and have great teammates who came on with me. So I'm just blessed to be here."
Bailey arrived in Salt Lake City on schedule Saturday — along with fellow draftees Walter Clayton Jr. and John Tonje — officially ushering in a new wave of hope for the Jazz.
That said, the pre-draft uncertainty wasn't entirely baseless. Bailey didn't work out for any teams and canceled a visit with Philadelphia, which held the No. 3 pick. He was widely projected as a top-three prospect, but his unique approach to the draft led to a slight slide.
The Jazz made sure it wasn't a long one.
"We're so pumped. This is a dream scenario for us," Jazz president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said. "These are guys we targeted before the draft with high potential and high character, and we couldn't be more excited."
And the feeling appears to be mutual.
When Bailey touched down in Salt Lake, he was greeted by Jazz head coach Will Hardy — and immediately asked to go to the team's practice facility. He got some shots up and met members of the organization.
His first impressions of his new home?
"I didn't think the mountains was real," Bailey said. "I mean, it was so beautiful. It was just seeing that scenery, just being in that position, just getting off that plane, just meeting the coaches, it's just all great."
Now that all the noise surrounding the draft is over, the real work begins.
Bailey, Clayton, and Tonje will join Jazz youngsters Isaiah Collier, Kyle Filipowski, Cody Williams, and Brice Sensabaugh for summer league training camp, beginning Monday.
Bailey believes he can make an immediate impact — and not just in the summer showcases.
"I've got great energy. I can do everything from rebounding from defense to scoring to passing," he said. "So I could say I could bring it a lot of different ways."
The lengthy forward averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in his lone season at Rutgers. He proved to be pretty efficient even with a shot chart featuring lots of long, contested midrange pull-ups.
That will need to be cleaned up for him to reach the heights his new team and new fans hope he can hit one day.
"I trust my work. I mean, countless hours in the gym," he said. "Everybody makes mistakes; God didn't put us here to be perfect. So I just trust myself and just trust my process."
A process — unconventional or not — that ultimately led him to Utah.
As for the other two draftees, Clayton might be one of the beneficiaries of the Collin Sexton trade. The 22-year-old will now have a clearer path to playing time to see if his collegiate production can translate to the NBA. Though he downplayed the potential significance of the deal.
"We've got a lot of great guards here, a lot of guys that can be on the floor," Clayton said. "So definitely, there's some work to be put in still."
He said he prefers "Walt" to "Walter," and that he needs to prove he deserves the "Walt Lake City" moniker some have started to throw around.
Tonje, meanwhile, said he was surprised that he fell all the way to No. 53, but ultimately is glad he ended up with the Jazz.
"That was a little bit outside of my range," he said. "But at the end of the day, I was super excited to be here, and I'm just so happy I'm here with the Jazz."
