Ace Bailey has a child-like energy and came into his rookie season with a sense of wonder and excitement that matched his everyday aura.
But he got sick just as the season was set to tip off. Despite having practiced with the first team through most of the preseason and training camp, he missed a few days and started off the season on the bench, trying everything he could to push through the illness that was dragging him down.
But, Bailey has been a regular starter for the Jazz in the eight games, including Monday night’s loss to the Golden State Warriors. And in those games, Bailey has slowly started to find his footing with the Jazz and find a level of comfort on the NBA court.
“Coming back, his role was very different, a little bit disjointed, some things that were outside of his control,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “I think the last 10 days, we’ve seen him settle in on the court in terms of some of his responsibilities and what he can expect.”
On Monday, Bailey matched his career high, with 21 points in the 134-117 loss in San Francisco. But Bailey is a natural scorer at all three levels, and the Jazz aren’t worried about his production when it comes to points — it’s a given that he will continue to progress and succeed as a scorer. What has stood out is every other part of Bailey’s game.
He’s a more-than-willing passer, has great feel for the game, improvises within the flow of the offense and is unafraid of crashing to create extra opportunities. On defense, his switching is clean and he’s learning more and more how to use his length in close-outs. He’s dedicated in finding a body any time the ball goes up and he naturally gets into a low stance when he’s on ball.
“He’s not afraid to ask questions, he’s not afraid to ask for help on something if he doesn’t know, and his personality is magnetic,” Hardy said. “The kid is incredible to be around every single day. He brings a lot of joy and energy to our building every single day. His approach is one of hard work. So I would say through the first this first segment of the season, he’s trending in a great direction, because we’re seeing growth and comfort both on and off the court.”
And the off-court comfort is not something that should be dismissed as trivial. Being a 19-year-old that is living in a unfamiliar place and trying to get up to speed with everything the NBA has to throw at him, all the while trying to live up to the expectations of being a top-5 draft pick does not make for an easy situation.
Throw into the mix that Bailey had an awkward entry into the NBA spotlight with a manager that he has since parted ways with and it’s not hard to imagine that it’s been a whirlwind of a couple of months.
“Being a rookie is hard,” Hardy said. “There’s a lot of things happening, you’re moving to a new place, you’re trying to get acclimated to a lot of new people...But I think Ace has handled all those things really well.”
As Bailey continues to build chemistry with the Jazz players, the coaches are sure to add to his on-court plate. But they aren’t in a rush to make things too difficult right out of the gate. Letting him feel like he has some control before changing things up is an important component of his journey as an NBA player.
After falling to 5-12 on the season on Monday, the Jazz will have three days off before taking on the Sacramento Kings at the Delta Center in an NBA Cup match on Friday.