The Utah Jazz drafted a bona fide scorer in the top-five of this year’s draft in the form of Rutgers wing Ace Baileywho’s already shown through flashes in summer league and preseason that he could be have a wildly high ceiling as an offensive threat.
And while it might be early for Bailey to face the Kevin Durant comparisons, as a lanky, lengthy, three-level wing scorer with an array of offensive skills, the ties are hard not to see.
Even for Bailey himself, who faced off against Durant for one time already in the preseason, sees a ton of similiarities in his own game to the 2014 league MVP.
“I watched a lot of his game. I mean, my game is his game low-key,” Bailey said in an interview with Kevin O’Connor. “I mean, it hit me a moment—like one of my teammates was like, “Bro, y’all just did the same move.” He did the little spin fade—not the spin fade, but the spin on the little spin jump shot creation. I came down and did the same thing. It was just like, “Bro,” I didn’t even realize. It’s crazy.
Bailey has been vocal about his love for Durant since coming into the draft–– as the 15-time All-Star has been the player he’s looked up to most, and seemingly modeled his game after in a major way.
Having a player like-minded as a scorer to Durant is certainly a good presence to have in the Jazz building. Through his two full preseason games, he’s already shown signs that he could very well be on his way to being a high-end scorer at the next level.
During his regular season debut vs. the LA Clippers, Bailey was limited to just two points while he was on a minutes restriction dealing with the flu. However, in games one and two of the preseason, he had a pair of 20-plus point outings to shoot an average of over 70% from the field on a variety of makes from the field.
For a Jazz team that’s been searching for a solid scorer to fill in next to Markkanen, Bailey could be the one to fit that bill quite nicely. If able to meet the mark on any Durant comparisons, that’s certainly an added bonus.
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