Subscribe
Follow Us
With the news surrounding Ace Bailey calling off a workout with the Philadelphia 76ers, this has been a one in a string of interesting stories surrounding his journey, building up to the NBA Draft. As some have been perplexed by Bailey's NBA Draft strategy, Kevin O'Connor provides more insight into his outlook.
O'Connor would be on his self-titled show, where he spoke about what he's heard from an executive around the league about the high-end prospect. While they say Bailey is a “good kid,” the worrisome aspect is “some of the influences around him” about the “mindset” and “approach.”
“Ace Bailey, with him, you know those character or personality concerns, you know an executive said to me over the weekend that Ace Bailey is a good kid,” O'Connor said. “They worry about some of the influences around him. With decisions, the lack of workouts that he’s been doing, the mindset and approach, who's in his ear about who he is and what his expectations should be early in his career. But some of that is also driven by Ace Bailey's own choices. He chooses his agent, he chooses who he spends his time around, and with Ace Bailey, he very much does see himself as a future superstar.”
Consequently, it seems that with this strategy, it has led to Bailey fallen a little bit in his draft stock. It didn't seem like too long ago, people were discussing that Bailey could be the second overall pick, along with his Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper.
Ace Bailey wants to be “the guy” for a franchise
After reports had seen Bailey's draft odds lower, there will no doubt be teams interested in the talented 18-year-0ld, so it is still likely he's taken with a high pick. However, the future relationship between Bailey and the team will seem to indicate that the parties have to share an understanding that he wants to be “the guy” for the franchise, as O'Connor mentioned.
“If your vision is aligned with him, that’s a good thing,” O'Connor said. “If it’s not aligned with him, that’s where you get into a Kuminga type situation where Steve Kerr is like, we want him to be Shawn Marion, and Jonathan Kuminga is like, no, Shawn Marion, I want to be the guy, not one of the guys.”
“That’s where, like when Philadelphia, well, he shot 39% on catch and shoot threes,” O'Connor continued. “If he takes more of those and less bad shots, he could be a great role player if he puts more time into his defense and all that. It’s like, no, Ace Bailey wants to be the guy generating shots, taking those mid-range pull-ups, taking those extremely difficult shots that he can make around 39-38% of the time. He’s not the most efficient player in those.”
It remains to be seen what Bailey's strategy will be in the lead-up to the draft and where he eventually ends up, but the basketball world will likely know on June 25.
