On Thursday afternoon, Amari Bailey, UCLA basketball's heralded freshman shooting guard, announced on his Instagram that he is declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft.
“Since I was 3 years old,” Bailey wrote in a heartfelt letter he posted on Instagram, “basketball has been my first and only love. I have decided to bet on mysaelf and turn my dreams into reality and enter the 2023 NBA Draft.”
In his sole season with the Bruins, Bailey averaged 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game and shot 49.5 percent from the field in doing so. Most impressive, Bailey succeeded in a number of disparate roles. Early in the season, he hustled on defense and deferred to senior leaders Jaime Jaquez, Tyger Campbell and Jaylen Clark. By March, though, Bailey was among UCLA's best players, asserting himself on offense as their premier bucket getter, scoring 17.3 points on obscene 65.6 percent True Shooting across six postseason games.
Still, despite his production at UCLA and his pedigree as a McDonalds All-American in high school, Bailey isn't a highly regarded NBA Draft prospect. At this point, Bailey may even go undrafted. Bleacher Report and ESPN project him to be an early-mid second rounder while Sam Vecenie at The Athletic has him 69th on his big board.
For UCLA basketball, Bailey's decision is a major loss. Having already lost their veteran core of Jaquez, Campbell, Clark and David Singleton, the Bruins planned to give Bailey the keys next season. If freshmen center Adem Bona decides to follow Bailey to the NBA, the Bruins will lose essentially their entire rotation from last year.
Notably, Amari Bailey is maintaining his eligibility at UCLA (for now) despite declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft. In doing so, he keeps open the possibility of returning to school if he doesn't get good feedback before the May 31st withdrawal deadline. For what it's worth, Bailey effusively praised UCLA in his announcement.
“UCLA…my professors, Coach Cronin and the rest of the coaching staff, my trainers, managers, staff, the dance team who cheered us on, the band whose beautiful music rang through Pauley. Thank you! This has been an incredible year. To my brothers, from the UCLA runs to the Sweet 16, I will never forget the moments we've shared throughout the year. A brotherhood that will last forever.”
Follow Us
Subscribe