Ace Bailey is expected to be drafted in the top five of the 2025 NBA Draft, and he revealed his thoughts about one possible landing spot.
Assuming that the 2025 NBA Draft goes as expected, the Dallas Mavericks will select Cooper Flagg first, followed by the San Antonio Spurs picking Dylan Harper.
After that, things get unpredictable.
Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, and Tre Johnson are all in the running after that, and the Philadelphia 76ers will have their pick of the litter third overall.
Bailey is the favorite to go third, tipped via ESPN to go to the Philadelphia 76ers, although he recently gave his thoughts about sliding to fourth overall, and said something nearly no one in league history has said before: he wants to be a Charlotte Hornet.
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Getty ImagesAce Bailey reveals his preferred landing spot
Bailey, listed at 6-foot-10 all season, turned out to be only 6-foot-7 at the Draft Combine. That could hurt his stock, although he remains one of the very best scorers in the class.
He has the tools to be a solid defender and an excellent scorer, although he is a very raw prospect with a lot of areas to improve before he really takes off. A win-now team, like the Sixers, might not want to invest in a project player, but a team with room to build like the Charlotte Hornets might be a better fit.
Between Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball, and Tidjane Salaun, the Charlotte Hornets have plenty of young talent, and Bailey thinks he will fit in well.
“B Miller, my dog, that’d be good,” Bailey said. “I mean, all three young guys, I feel like me and B Miller do the same thing. So, going to two of the same people on the same court, it’s kind of hard to guard. So B Miller, that’d be tough. And LaMelo, his activity, his shot creation, it’s all of it.”
An offensive-minded trio of Miller, Ball, and Bailey could turn into one of the most exciting and best scoring offenses in the league, although there would be some very clear weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball.
How Bailey would fit with Hornets
Bailey made it clear that he sees himself as a high-level NBA player, comparing himself to Paul George, Kevin Durant, and Jayson Tatum.
Before he got drafted second overall in 2023, Miller also compared himself to George and said he considers him the greatest player of all time.
“Paul George is my GOAT because I’m a fan of Paul George, I’ve grown up watching him since I was young, and always studied his game,” he said two years ago. “Now I’ve kind of stolen his moves and put my own twist to them.”
Ball, when healthy, is a top point guard in the NBA, although his health has always been an issue. Assuming that Bailey can hit his ceiling sooner than expected, the Hornets should be in a good place in a wide-open Eastern Conference, although there is no guarantee that Bailey will fall to them.
The Hornets, a long-hapless franchise, will need to land the best player available, and names like Edgecombe and Johnson have also been floated as draft picks for Charlotte.