Ace Bailey Loses Out on His Wizards Wish

Most Washington Wizards fans were bracing for the team to select Ace Bailey at No. 6 in the 2025 NBA Draft, and for good reason.

The star prospect was one of the betting favorites to end up in Washington until the moment the draft started, having spent the last few weeks attempting to execute a strategic drop to a team he wanted to join.

Bailey made it known that he was on the hunt for a destination that would provide him with open minutes to soak up and available shots to take, envisioning himself as a scoring star the second he stepped into the league. That meant refusing to work out with some of the highest-ordered teams in the draft lottery, even though there was never any guarantee that he would go in the top three or five.

The first three picks went in the expected order as Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe went off the board in the manner that most mock drafts predicted. Kon Knueppel's was snagged by the Charlotte Hornets for the first semi-surprise. Score-first prospects Ace Bailey and Tre Johnson were both left, and the Utah Jazz took Bailey right before he had the chance to end up on an east coast team that met his publicly-expressed desires.

Both he and Johnson will head to their respective rebuilding franchises, with Bailey just missing out on one of the teams he seemed most likely to end up with.