Former college basketball standout and current draft prospect Ace Bailey has been labeled the ‘NBA’s Shedeur Sanders’ after he canceled a workout, with fans predicting a similar slide for where he will be selected.
Bailey was expected to have a private workout and a visit with the Philadelphia 76ers this weekend. However, according to multiple reports, that visit has now been cancelled.
The 76ers have the No 3 overall pick in this month’s NBA Draft, with picks Nos 1 and 2, belonging to the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs respectively, likely choosing Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper.
Bailey had long been considered the third best prospect in the draft, with his cancelation of meeting with a high-drafting team showing a red flag to fans.
Bailey is now being branded as the most polarizing prospect in the draft, as he is the only US-based prospect in this year’s pool who has not visited a team in the pre-draft process.
It’s a little bit of deja vu to reported dissatisfaction from NFL teams that led Sanders from being a top prospect to his selection in the fifth round of the draft and No 144 overall.
Ace Bailey has been labeled the ‘NBA’s Shedeur Sanders’ after his reported pre-draft attitude
Bailey is the only US-based prospect who has yet to visit with any NBA team for a meeting
I think Ace Bailey might be the NBA’s Shedeur Sanders… At one point, projected as a top 3 pick maybe even 2 Seen as arrogant and cocky during the pre draft process Canceled meetings and tried to direct where he landed How far could he slide? 10?
He’s definitely going to lose some high draft pick money. Apparently he didn’t watch the NFL draft.
Never been more right on any prospect. Dude is a walking red flag. Gives bizarre interviews, keep rejecting workouts, came in 3 inches shorter than expected, shot diet and decision making is a concern. Good luck to anyone who drafts him top 4
Bro 100% has a promise from Charlotte, Utah or Washington
A collection of social-media messages about Bailey possibly being the NBA’s Sanders
According to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones, Sanders’ unenthusiastic approach to certain interviews ‘rubbed some teams the wrong way’ beforehand.
‘At some of those [combine] meetings with certain teams that maybe Shedeur Sanders didn’t really want to go to, I was told that he more or less sandbagged in those interviews,’ Jones said in April.
‘I don’t know if he didn’t take them seriously, what it was, but he did not give it his all in some of those interviews.’
According to ABC 6’s Jason Dumas, Bailey was ‘seeking a promise from the Sixers’ before committing to attend a meeting.
That follows on from ESPN’s Jonathan Givony projecting the Sixers would draft Baylor shooting guard VJ Edgecombe third overall. Meanwhile, he projected Bailey would fall to the sixth overall pick with the Washington Wizards.
‘Bailey’s predraft workout strategy has perplexed some observers, as he has yet to conduct a single known workout to date, having declined invitations from several teams within his draft range,’ Givony wrote.
‘Sources say Bailey’s camp has informed interested teams that they believe he is a top-3 player in the draft, but also seeks a clear pathway to stardom, perhaps feeling comfortable that a team will trade up to get him at Nos. 3 or 4, should he drop.
‘Some teams question whether Bailey has received assurances of being selected by a team currently outside the top five, to a situation deemed more advantageous from a geographic and playing time perspective.’
