Nov 21, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) warms up before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Utah Jazz's Confidence Growing in Ace Bailey Selection

Originally posted on Utah Jazz on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Nov 22, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The Utah Jazz, through the first month of the NBA regular season, have seen some great things out of their fifth-overall pick Ace Bailey.

While he didn't start his first week of the season off extremely hot, he would wind up turning production that around to show some extremely positive flashes in the moments since, averaging 8.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 42.7% from the field

And in that initial sample size through what's been the start of a productive rookie year, it seems people in the building for the Jazz are already raving for how lucky they are for landing Bailey with their team.

Utah Jazz Feel Lucky They Landed Ace Bailey

NBA insider Brian Windhorst recently spoke about some of the internal feelings he's heard surrounding the Jazz and their top-five rookie based on spending time with a few people in their front office––and it's safe to say that the vibes are feeling good in Utah.

"I spent some time with the Jazz folks this week in L.A.," Brian Windhorst said. "They were raving about Ace Bailey. Up and down. They love his make-up. They raved about his basketball intelligence. They said he's just now beginning to work on his body. They haven't really done much of that. They are convinced that they were so lucky to get him at five."

Bailey, through 14 games, has flashed his explosiveness for what seems like at least one wow moment every game, showcasing offensive playmaking and versatility, and presenting shades of the the high-level shot-making necessary to inspire have the confidence he could be a focal point of an NBA offense down the line.

Watch this sequence by Ace Bailey... he has potential to be a special player pic.twitter.com/01agxgWGoO
— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) November 22, 2025

Of course, at 19 years old, Bailey bound to continue to develop and hone into more of a polished product on both ends of the floor, and get even better physically as the team prioritizes working on his physical traits.

But through the first few reps seen from the Jazz in the first segment of year one, they're loving what the output looks like.

Rob Gray-Imagn Images

In part, that feeling of luck comes as a part of the Jazz's unfortunate lottery outcome dating back to this past summer.

From heading into the offseason with the best odds of landing Cooper Flagg, to falling into their worst-possible scenario of the fifth-overall draft spot, to then flipping that into Bailey is an impressive turn of events.

Now, it makes the Jazz look a bit more like draft winners from how they started by picking at number five rather than coming up short of a premier talent.

"They tanked last year and then had egg all over his face when they had a horrible lottery night. They were so pleased he fell. They consider themselves lucky," Windhorst said.

There's a long way to go before we see what the complete career arc looks like for Bailey, but from what those have seen both on the outside and internally, the Jazz could be in for something special.