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The NBA Draft is right around the corner, and the rumor mill is buzzing with speculation around former Rutgers star Ace Bailey. He's set to visit with the Philadelphia 76ers soon, and one scout makes the case why some teams might want to ignore the rumored red flags.
Initial buzz around the 18-year-old forward is that he was not going to visit with the 76ers before the NBA Draft, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer and HoopsHype. Rumors are that Bailey's camp told him not to do private workouts. Teams around the league were befuddled by this, and some thought that Bailey's camp believed he was guaranteed to be drafted to a certain franchise.
“Sources said he seemed unprepared to answer certain questions during team interviews at the combine. His camp also instructed him not to participate in private workouts, which left franchises wondering if the refusal is the result of a guarantee from another squad. But after initially refusing to visit the Sixers, Bailey is scheduled to work out for them this week.”
Another red flag that popped up for Ace Bailey was that scouts claimed that he “makes the game more complicated than it needs to be.” One scout claims the former Rutgers forward has the potential of being a bust, as Bailey is seemingly inconsistent, and that he interviewed poorly with several NBA executives.
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“The Rutgers star makes the game more complicated than it needs to be, the type of player who will wow you one play and frustrate you the next. Sources even say he interviewed poorly with NBA executives at last month’s draft combine. He has the potential to become a bust. That fact has led some scouts to consider VJ Edgecombe and Tre Johnson better prospects. And it's why Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach are regarded as solid trade-down options.”
However, one NBA scout believes that Ace Bailey's red flags can be attributed to his age. The scout goes as far as to claim that Bailey isn't immature, in a butthead sort of way, but rather, he's simply being an 18 year old.
“But a team's culture could make or break a young player's career. Sources say Bailey's immaturity isn't associated with being a bad person or unruly. They referred to his maturity as ‘age-appropriate.' ‘He's not immature like a [butthead]. … He's goofy,' a scout said. ‘Dancing in line. You are doing drills, he’s dancing. ‘Oh, that's my song.' … He's playful, which is age-appropriate.'”
