Now Reading: Bold Choice at No. 12? Bulls Eye Ace Bailey in Final 2025 NBA Mock Draft
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Bold Choice at No. 12? Bulls Eye Ace Bailey in Final 2025 NBA Mock Draft
With the 5th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls are making waves by selecting Rutgers guard Ace Bailey.
Though the draft usually holds a few surprises, this year’s enigmatic pick is Bailey—once viewed as a top-tier talent just behind Flagg. Rumors suggested he might be a locker-room concern, but those whispers have quieted: teammates say he was far from a distraction—just a laid-back 18-year-old.
Still, Bailey’s draft-night behavior raised eyebrows. He skipped interviews post-NBA Combine in Chicago, leaving some teams questioning his preparation and interest. His camp reportedly aims for him to slip to rebuilding franchises like the Wizards or Pelicans—where he’d command minutes, shine in stats, and push for Rookie of the Year honors. That begs the question: how would he fare in Charlotte at No. 4 or Utah at No. 5?
Meanwhile, it’s baffling news that Rutgers—despite boasting two of the draft’s top-3 talents—finished 15–17 overall and 11th in the Big Ten, failing to qualify for the conference tournament.
Big board hierarchy going into Wednesday’s first round:
- Charlotte Hornets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Philadelphia
- San Antonio Spurs
- New Orleans Hornets
Below that, a guard-heavy second tier includes Baylor’s V.J. Edgecombe, Texas’s Tre Johnson, Duke’s Kon Knueppel, Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears, and Duke’s 7-foot-4 center Khaman Maluach.
Beyond pick 7 lies an eye-of-the-beholder tier, where player rankings diverge wildly—from No. 8 on one team’s board to No. 18 on another’s. Front offices have an opportunity to prove their evaluative skill here. After all, teenagers whose bodies and games still evolve are notoriously unpredictable. Remember: last year’s Bulls snagged Matas Buzelis after a surprise fall.
Draft night is as much art as science. Time to see what the Bulls get in this young guard.
1.Charlotte Hornets. V.J. Edgecombe, Baylor guard, 6-4, 190.
This begins the guard run in this draft, and he’s regarded as the best of them. Though this franchise remains a hot mess with speculation about trades, including their supposed star, LaMelo Ball, who rarely plays because of injuries and when he does hardly anyone wants to play with him the way he dominates the ball. He performs the great trick of being among the league leaders in assists with selfish play. Maybe start rebuilding with Edgecombe and Brandon Miller from last season.
2. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, Duke forward 6-8, 220
He’s the goods. Looks like one of the top five prospects in the last two decades. They’re not an immediate contender with Kyrie Irving perhaps out for the season injured. Lucking into No. 1 saves the Mavs from the Luka fiasco trade. Talk about proudly raising the Flagg. Flagg’s a basketball five-tool player who screams star.
3. Philadelphia 76ers. Ace Bailey, Rutgers forward, 6-8, 200.
The general mock draft consensus the last few days is he slips to Nos. 6 or 7 because he’s declined meetings and acted like, well, an 18-year-old. If I were the 76ers at No. 3, I’d take him as the most talented because you can always trade talent and if Joel Embiid doesn’t recover and Paul George still prefers podcasting you need a foundational piece, and he could be a start.
4. San Antonio Spurs. Dylan Harper, Rutgers guard, 6-4, 213
Even though they made the big trade for left handed, ball control point guard De’Aaron Fox and Harper plays similarly, it’s about stacking talent for a young team and in the new NBA to build depth instead of a Big Three.
5. New Orleans Hornets. Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma (G, 6-2, 180.
You never quite know what under new management means, though the offloading began Tuesday with the C.J. McCollum trade. Joe Dumars now is in charge and his personnel successes with the Pistons were built around guard-oriented teams. They have Dejounte Murray, who joined the epidemic Achilles tears last February, so he will miss much of the season and who knows in a return. So a penetrating Isiah-type guard seems reasonable.
6. Utah Jazz. Kon Knueppel, Duke guard, 6-5, 220.
Not the high ceiling athlete type, but a skilled shooter with collective all around play. It’s just difficult to figure the franchise now with star names like Danny Ainge and Dwayne Wade seemingly on a hamster wheel to nowhere as they keep accumulating draft picks to get more draft picks.
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