Ex-Rutgers star Ace Bailey risks losing millions of dollars with his camp’s latest NBA Draft strategy, one analyst says.
With speculation brewing that Bailey’s agent, Omar Cooper, is trying to steer Bailey to the Brooklyn Nets, who own the No. 8 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft, ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla posted:
“Hard to imagine Ace Bailey’s agents are trying to orchestrate a Brooklyn Nets scenario. Over three years of the rookie contract, there is a 10 million dollar difference between No. 3 and No. 8. There’s some misdirection going on here somewhere."
Fraschilla also pointed out that Cooper made a mistake having his own son, Newark native Sharife Cooper, leave Auburn for the NBA after his freshman season. He’s currently playing in the French Pro A league.
“I don’t mean this negatively, but he also represented his son who came out too early,” Fraschilla posted. “Would have been an All-American as a sophomore and national player of the year candidate. On the bright side, he was guarding Nolan Traore this week in French Pro A.”
Bailey was initially projected at No. 3 behind Duke’s Cooper Flagg and former Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper before ESPN’s Jonathan Givony moved him down to No. 6 to the Washington Wizards. Tankathon has Bailey going No. 5 to the Utah Jazz.
In terms of the money involved, the total value of the rookie contract for the No. 3 pick is $50,438,207, per Spotrac. For the No. 5 pick, the total value is $41,209,662. And for the No. 8 pick, it’s $31,340,682.
Bailey’s camp last week cancelled a meeting and private workout with the Philadelphia 76ers, prompting some analysts to term the decision “delusional” and “stupid.”
Amid speculation that Bailey’s camp wants to steer him to Brooklyn, it’s also possible that the Nets or the Wizards (or another team) could trade up with the 76ers or the Charlotte Hornets (who pick at No. 4) to land the high-flying Bailey.
Under that scenario, Philadelphia could still draft Bailey at No. 3 and then deal him to Brooklyn for a combination of picks and cap relief. Brooklyn has four first-round draft picks: Nos. 8, 19, 26 and 27 and has a lot of options.
Nets GM Sean Marks and his staff scouted Rutgers numerous times over the season and are certainly familiar with Bailey and Harper.
“This year specifically, with all the picks that we have, we have to be scouting a very wide range,” Marks told NJ Advance Media in November. “And that’s fine, that’s exciting, we’ve never had that opportunity before.”
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.