Ace Bailey says he's 'blessed' to be with the Jazz after he fell to them at No. 5 in the NBA draft

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah was not believed to be one of Ace Bailey's preferred destinations to start his NBA career. Still, Bailey indicated Sunday that he never thought about holding out or forcing a trade after the Jazz drafted him No. 5 overall.

Bailey reported to Utah after he was criticized for his approach to the pre-draft process, during which he refused to work out for teams interested in him. When asked during his introductory news conference if he considered not coming to Salt Lake City, he only expressed enthusiasm for being with the Jazz.

“Just blessed to be in the position I am,” Bailey said.

Before the draft, Bailey canceled a scheduled workout with Philadelphia and declined invitations from Charlotte and Utah to work out for them.

That didn't stop the Jazz from using their lottery pick on him anyway. Utah is betting the 18-year-old will unlock his potential and blossom into a prolific scorer.

Joining Bailey in Utah are No. 18 pick Walter Clayton Jr. and No. 53 pick John Tonje, two other high-level scorers.

“This is a dream scenario for us,” Jazz president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said. “These are guys we targeted before the draft with high potential and high character, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Ainge believes all three rookies are multi-dimensional players who can make an impact on defense.

“These guys can play on both ends,” Ainge said. “We’re looking for the best combination of all the skills we can. But, yeah, these guys can put the ball in the hole.”

Mock drafts had Bailey as a consensus top-three pick before he slid to the Jazz. The 6-foot-8 forward has a versatile offensive game. At Rutgers, Bailey showed he can shoot off the dribble, knock down step-back jumpers and attack the paint.

He averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in his lone season with the Scarlet Knights. Bailey complemented his inside game by stretching defenses with his range, shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc.

“I got great energy,” Bailey said. “I can do everything from rebounding to defense to scoring to passing. So I can say I can bring it a lot in different ways.”

Still, concerns about his scoring efficiency, ballhandling, passing, defensive intensity and maturity contributed to Bailey falling out of the top three. He’s eager to prove the Jazz made the right choice.

“I trust my work,” Bailey said. “I (put in) countless hours in the gym with everything that I do. So I trust it. Everybody makes mistakes. God didn’t put us here to be perfect. So I just trust myself and just trust my process.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Utah Jazz drafted players, left to right, Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr. and John Tonje pose during the Utah Jazz player introduction press conference, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)

Utah Jazz drafted players, left to right, Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr., John Tonje, team owner Ryan Smith, and Austin Ainge, President of Basketball Operations for the Utah Jazz, pose during the Utah Jazz player introduction press conference Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)

Utah Jazz drafted players,left to right, Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr., John Tonje and Austin Ainge, President of Basketball Operations for the Utah Jazz, pose during the Utah Jazz player introduction press conference Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)

Utah Jazz first round fifth overall draft pick Ace Bailey poses during the Utah Jazz player introduction press conference, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)

Utah Jazz first round fifth overall draft pick Ace Bailey speaks to the press during the Utah Jazz player introduction press conference, Sunday, June 29, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)

Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year's Day.

Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.

Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.

Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.

“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.

Dykstra's gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.

Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.

In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.

In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.

That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra's lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.

And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.

Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.

“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.

FILE - Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra sits during his sentencing for grand theft auto in Los Angeles, on Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)