SALT LAKE CITY — The dogs are adjusting just fine: Halo is a gym regular. Prince prefers to chill at home.
“Halo got famous more than me now!” said Ace Bailey, the Utah Jazz’s No. 5 pick in the 2025 draft — and proud dog dad.
Bailey himself is settling in, too. He’s gone hiking, and the avid angler wants to try fly fishing for the first time — if he can stay away from the gym, that is.
Bailey doesn’t just walk into the Jazz facility — he practically bounces in, usually early, always smiling. Utah big man Oscar Tshiebwe is normally the one who lights up a room, but he might have met his match with Bailey.
“He’s funny. I just told him, ‘Man, I love being around you,'” Tshiebwe said. “The boy’s just all over the place. We love his energy.”
It’s that energy — loud, joyful, relentless — that’s already become a defining trait for Bailey as he begins his first NBA season. Combine that with his rare combination of size, athleticism and skill, and it’s easy to see why there is so much hope about the 19-year-old’s future.
“I’m ready,” Bailey said, an infectious smile spreading wider. “From working out, everything here (on media day), first game, first year, I’m ready. I mean, I’m pumped. I don’t got no words for it — I’m so excited.”
The Jazz could use that excitement. They’ve stockpiled young talent during a long rebuild, but a true centerpiece has yet to emerge. Bailey might be that guy.
Does that come with any added pressure?
“Not at all,” Bailey said. “I mean, it’s basketball. Put the ball in the hoop.”
Bailey hasn’t put any oversized expectations on himself for his first year. He understands he’s a rookie and that 19-year-olds rarely star in basketball’s top league. He just wants to do whatever the team needs — and he means anything.
“Whether it’s get a rebound, clap, get some water, whatever it is,” he said. “I’m really pumped for the season to really start.”
That should be music to the ears of Will Hardy.
The Jazz coach gets the hype surrounding Bailey — and, yes, he’s excited about the teenager’s prospects, too — he just doesn’t want that promise to get in the way of reality. Bailey will be one of the youngest players in the NBA this season, having just turned 19 in August. He still has a way to go to reach his ceiling.
“I don’t want him to think that the first game, or the first two weeks, he has to prove to his teammates, or me, or any of you, that he is what we say he is,” Hardy said.
So the plan is to keep things small — at least at the beginning.
“We almost need to make his life as micro as possible right now,” Hardy said. “Because the macro can get daunting when it’s like, ‘I need to be what?!’ … We need to just try to make the basketball part, the life part as micro as we can.”
He wants Bailey to focus on playing good shifts — seven minutes here and seven minutes there — and not trying to be a superstar from Day 1.
Hardy will be looking at the defensive side first. With Bailey’s wingspan and quickness, the Jazz see the makings of a disruptive perimeter force — once his frame fills out and the reps stack up.
“We’ve not had a wing with his size and length in this building in a long time,” Hardy said.
His teammates have noticed that, too.
“His growth from high school to now, I mean, it’s been a huge jump,” said Isaiah Collier, who played against Bailey during their prep days in Georgia. “I think Ace is gonna be really special in this league, honestly. I’m excited to play with him.”
Lauri Markkanen echoed that sentiment, praising Bailey’s early drive.
“The talent’s there,” Markkanen said. “He’s really athletic and loves to work on his game. He’s one of the first guys in every day, and so that’s a good start. Obviously, he has fun playing basketball and enjoys being here.”
To Bailey, what’s there not to enjoy? He’s simply living out a childhood dream.
“I mean, not everybody can sit in these chairs,” he said. “Once you’re in these chairs, it should be a blessing. The goal is to be in the NBA. I’m here, so now it’s just have fun with it.”
His dogs are having fun, too.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
