Marc Stein confirmed today what was pretty obvious some time ago in his latest Stein Line that Ace Bailey’s preferred destination was the Washington Wizards.
From Stein:
This one has been in circulation since draft night in June: Washington is the lottery team, according to various rivals, that was the preferred landing spot for Ace Bailey.
The Wizards had the sixth overall pick. Bailey’s camp refused to engage with
teams interested in bringing him in for an individual workout in the days
leading up to the June 25 draft in the apparent hope of steering himself to the
Wizards. Then Utah, with the No. 5 overall pick, stunningly selected Bailey
despite a flurry of external suggestions that the Rutgers star wouldn’t want to
be in Salt Lake City and might even refuse to report to the Jazz.
The latest chapter in the story quietly unfolded late last week, when the
Wizards signed Sharife Cooper to a two-way contract. Cooper, of course, is
the son of Bailey’s manager Omar Cooper, who is said to have largely
orchestrated Bailey’s polarizing pre-draft process as The People’s Insider
Jake Fischer detailed below in June
For me, this confirms something different. It’s pretty clear that Washington was the preferred destination of Omar Cooper. Now, that could coincide with what Ace Bailey wanted, but it’s clear that at times that isn’t always the case. Ace Bailey, during the draft process, was saying different things on camera, and with his agent, than what Omar Cooper “his camp” was saying.
Let’s just hope that this whole saga can now be put behind us. Congratulations to Sharife Cooper and his two-way contract, the Cooper’s should be excited about his opportunity to earn his way into the NBA. But that has no bearing at this point on Ace Bailey, who appears to be meshing well with his new teammates in Utah.
