Ace Bailey's Representation Gets Real on Joining Utah Jazz

And while it's a situation with Bailey that's managed to gain a bit of notoriety across national headlines and on the second day of the draft on Thursday, it seems like his representation has since shot down any speculation of his potential lack of interest in Utah.

During a recent interview with Front Office Sports, Bailey's representative and president of GSE Worldwide, Andrew Witlieb, spoke on the Jazz's decision to select him at fifth overall, mentioning the Rutgers star as "thrilled" to be heading to Utah.

"Yeah, absolutely. He's thrilled to be going to Utah," Witlieb said. "Obviously, it's an honor to be selected in the top five of the NBA Draft, and we think he can do a lot of great things out there. Certainly should get a ton of playing time, and he'll have a lot of chances to show what he can do. So, we think it's a great situation for him basketball-wise."

Witlieb noted that Bailey's pre-draft process was led by manager Omar Cooper, who focused more upon an on-court fit with whatever team would select him rather than boosting his draft stock as high as possible, calling Utah one of the best places he could've wound up.

"This was led by his long-time manager, Omar Cooper. Omar really focused more on fit rather than going third in the draft, kind of thing. He wanted some place where Ace can have the best possible basketball fit for his game, and we think Utah is one of the best places he could've gone."

It's been a loud and grueling discussion revolving around Bailey, but Witlieb's comments here definitely add a bit more assurance to how Bailey's time should be set to start with the Jazz, as opposed to any talks about the top-five pick not reporting to Utah.

Instead, Bailey seems eager to get to work in Utah and looks to be well on track for suiting up during the team's summer league action alongside fellow rookies Walter Clayton Jr. and John Tonje, officially kicking off in Salt Lake City later next month.