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Ace Bailey Hype thread

I still worry about his ability to produce efficient offense. Playing more off the ball is better than what he did in college, but he still needs to be a very elite shooter on this shot diet to be efficient. Ace doesn't get very many easy ones. Looked great in preseason when he was shooting at an amazing clip, but that wasn't sustainable. Zero rim attempts so far and only to FTA. I think the rest of his game will come around when he's not sick, but shot diet will continue to be the biggest question for him going forward.
 
he's more raw than i had hoped, but i like his attitude and the highlights are promising. definitely going to be one of those players that has a big boost year 3
 
This topic had fallen all the way down to page 7. I might be way off base here, but that's probably not a great sign for your #5 pick.

Anyway – don't look now, but it could be argued that Ace is having the worst rookie season out of anyone taken in the Top 10 (with the exception of Maluach, who's predictably not playing). Even Demin has performed a lot better lately. Plus, Coward (taken at #11) and Queen (#13) are valuable rotation pieces for their teams.

This draft class is turning out to be a lot better than anticipated. Unfortunately, it also means that Ace was most definitely not the BPA.

Another draft fail for the Ainge clan.
 
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Tremendous Upside said:
This topic had fallen all the way down to page 7. I might be way off base here, but that's probably not a great sign for your #5 pick.

Anyway – don't look now, but it could be argued that Ace is having the worst rookie season out of anyone taken in the Top 10 (with the exception of Maluach, who's predictably not playing). Even Demin has performed a lot better lately. Plus, Coward (taken at #11) and Queen (#13) are valuable rotation pieces for their teams.

This draft class is turning out to be a lot better than anticipated. Unfortunately, it also means that Ace was most definitely not the BPA.

Another draft fail for the Ainge clan.
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He hasn't been playing because he is hurt, what is wrong with you, lol.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
He hasn't been playing because he is hurt, what is wrong with you, lol.
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"Hasn't been playing?" LOL

Ace has literally missed two games. He's played 30.

As I said – almost everyone in the top 10 is having a better, more impactful rookie season than him. This has nothing to do with the recent injury.

Let's just face the facts for a change.
 
His stats are fine for the usage and role he has in the team. He's no Cooper Flagg, ok. He's not playing 32 or 35 mins per game like VJ or Kon. And those teams don't have two guys averaging almost 25 or 28 ppg on the fringes of All Star discussion to grab the focal point of offense.

Maybe need to chill, guy is 19 years old and not all development is the same...
 
CVJ said:
His stats are fine for the usage and role he has in the team. He's no Cooper Flagg, ok. He's not playing 32 or 35 mins per game like VJ or Kon. And those teams don't have two guys averaging almost 25 or 28 ppg on the fringes of All Star discussion to grab the focal point of offense.

Maybe need to chill, guy is 19 years old and not all development is the same...
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I have been pleased with Ace so far.
 
Ace has certainly played some really promising games and he seems like a good kid.

It's just hard to see what his main NBA skill is. In this respect he differs from everyone else in the Top 10 of his draft. The outside shooting has come and gone (his 3pt % is worse than league average at the moment), he doesn't get to the basket (or FT line), he struggles finishing through contact and he can't get separation against defenders.

Ace's "comfort zone" shot is still the same as in college – the (very) long pull-up two. Not a great shot in the NBA. He's generally been at his best playing off ball, mostly ignored by defenses, roaming the baseline for putbacks and alley-oops. That's fine at this point, but obviously not the type of thing he was drafted for. Time will tell how he manages to broaden his skill set.

People keep saying that Ace needs to bulk up for next season, and obviously adding strength will help, but IMO his main focus should be on ballhandling. He's a talented passer, but he needs a lot more confidence in his dribbling to make full use of that skill.
 
I do hope that by this time next year we'll be talking more about how good Ace Bailey is at basketball and not just about how great of a kid he is and that he actually wants to be here. Ace was never going to be a year 1 type of prospect.

So far I think he's shown that he has tools and is willing to change which is great. This summer will be big for him a true test of our development program and his capacity to learn.
 
I think Ace's trajectory will be something similar to Jabari Smith Jr. That's a reasonable, median expectation IMO.

Most people would consider Jabari and disappointment, and because people have unrealistic expectations I think some would also consider that a disappointing outcome for Ace....but Jabari is still a super valuable player. He plays on a very good team and they can't keep him off the court.
 
KqWIN said:
I think Ace's trajectory will be something similar to Jabari Smith Jr. That's a reasonable, median expectation IMO.

Most people would consider Jabari and disappointment, and because people have unrealistic expectations I think some would also consider that a disappointing outcome for Ace....but Jabari is still a super valuable player. He plays on a very good team and they can't keep him off the court.
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I just refuse to make conclusions on a 19-year old after 30 games when we’ve seen the type of improvement Keyonte has had.

Ace, unlike Cody has shown plenty of promise. It’s not his fault he wasn’t given a ton of usage early on.
 
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