Report: Rutgers star Ace Bailey cancels workouts with Philadelphia 76ers, team still considering drafting him

Rutgers’ Ace Bailey has been a consensus projection as a top-three pick in mocks of the 2025 NBA Draft. However, a week out from the draft, some puzzling decisions have Bailey possibly sliding down the board.

ESPN’s Jonathan Givony had Bailey falling from No. 3 to No. 6 in his latest mock with Jeremy Woo on Tuesday. That’s because of his pre-draft process, where he has yet to actually work out for any franchises to this point. The lone visit Bailey reportedly had scheduled was with the Philadelphia 76ers, who pick at and are still considering him at No. 3. But per reporting last night by Givony, Bailey has since cancelled that as well.

“NEWS: Rutgers star Ace Bailey has canceled his workout with the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN. Bailey remains the only US-based prospect yet to visit any NBA teams,” Givony tweeted. “The Sixers have not ruled out selecting Bailey, sources say.”

Givony has further reported on and explained what’s going on with Bailey in that newest mock as well as in an appearance on ‘NBA Today’ on Wednesday. His camp is looking for “a clear pathway to stardom,” with them feeling good about him being selected somewhere within the top eight.

“Bailey’s predraft workout strategy has perplexed some observers, as he has yet to conduct a single known workout to date, having declined invitations from several teams within his draft range. Sources say Bailey’s camp has informed interested teams that they believe he is a top-3 player in the draft, but also seeks a clear pathway to stardom, perhaps feeling comfortable that a team will trade up to get him at Nos. 3 or 4, should he drop,” Givony wrote on Tuesday. “Some teams question whether Bailey has received assurances of being selected by a team currently outside the top five, to a situation deemed more advantageous from a geographic and playing time perspective.”

“The draft starts with Philadelphia. Who do they take, VJ Edgecombe or Ace Bailey? Ace Bailey was three for a while. He’d slid all the way to sixth in our latest mock draft,” Givony then said on Wednesday. “Bailey’s camp seems to feel confident that, if Philadelphia…or Charlotte at four, decide to pass on him, then Washington, New Orleans, Brooklyn, who are six, seven, and eight? Somebody’s going to trade up to get him.”

Bailey, a top-two recruit out of high school by every major service, is coming off his freshman season in Piscataway. He started in 30 games for the Scarlet Knights, averaging 17.6 points (46% FG, 34.6% 3PT on 1.6 makes), 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.0 steals as a member of the Big Ten All-Freshman Team while also being named Third Team All-Big Ten.

To this point, Bailey has been behind only Duke’s Cooper Flagg and, depending on the expert, his teammate Dylan Harper. That’s with very high upside yet some risk-and-reward, namely on the offensive end, with On3’s James Fletcher tabbing him as the “most polarizing prospect…with a huge gulf in opinions”. Now, paired with this confusion about his pre-draft process or lack thereof as far as team visits or workouts, Edgecombe from Baylor, Kon Knueppel for Duke, and Texas’ Tre Johnson have begun to move past him like as in this latest mock by Givony and Woo at ESPN as well as Fletcher’s for On3.

Bailey is just too gifted not to be likely a Top 10 pick, if not top five, come Wednesday next week. That said, with his one and only workout now cancelled, Givony is going to have to dig even deeper with what’s going on here with Bailey ahead of the NBA Draft.

“A lot of uncertainty about how all of this is going to play out. No one really knows how it’s going to end up and where Bailey will be picked,” Givony said. “That’s going to be one of the biggest storylines I’m going to be tracking on draft night.”