Ace Bailey Wants to Win NBA Rookie of Year Award, Make All-Star Team With Jazz in 2026
Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey, who was the fifth pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday evening, has lofty goals for his first pro season.
“I definitely want to win Rookie of the Year,” he said Wednesday, per Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. “Definitely want to be an All-Star my rookie year. I want to do a lot.”
Bailey averaged 17.6 points on 46.0 percent shooting (34.6 percent from three), 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game during his one season at Rutgers before entering the draft.
He was long considered one of the top three 2025 draft prospects even before he arrived at Rutgers. Cooper Flagg was long considered No. 1, but Bailey and Dylan Harper rounded out the top three in some order from there.
Bailey ended up "slipping" to No. 5, but he finds himself in a spot where he can flourish early and get plenty of chances to produce. Utah needed a young potential superstar player like Bailey to build around for the future, and now the Jazz have him.
He could certainly find himself as the Rookie of the Year, although Bailey will have tough competition from the likes of Flagg, Harper and others. Making the All-Star team would be an incredibly tall order. Rookies have made the All-Star team just twice in the past 25 years (Yao Ming in 2003 and Blake Griffin in 2011). So it's hard seeing Bailey get there, but one can't fault him for shooting high and giving himself lofty goals as he hopes for a great NBA career.
For now, Bailey is carving out his path on a Utah team that just finished with an NBA-worst 17-65 record. The Jazz have a long way to go toward being competitive again, but adding Bailey can certainly help the team get back to that level.
