Georges Niang all but confirms Ace Bailey's true character

Many were concerned that Ace Bailey would be a problem for the Utah Jazz once they drafted him. From the jump, there haven't been any concrete hints of that. In fact, his firing Omar Cooper after his pre-draft debacle seemed like a good indication that what happened wasn't on Bailey. Well, Georges Niang more or less confirmed the kind of person Bailey is by revealing how humble the Jazz rookie is.

During his appearance on "Run it Back," Niang revealed how humble Bailey is behind the scenes. While revealing how much he believes in the star Bailey can become, Niang added that the Jazz youngster has a humble persona.

"His willingness to pour into the team has been what's most impressive... He got all these labels and all these knocks coming out of the draft, and the kid is such an unbelievable kid, like so many times, we'll be sitting down, and he'll just like, 'Can you believe we're in the NBA?'"

It really seems like Bailey's mindset is more about soaking this all in and becoming the player the Jazz envisioned when they took him. He hasn't been consistently dominant like some of the other rookies in his class, but the talent is obvious enough that pretty much everyone in Utah is confident about what lies ahead for him.

Bailey may not become Utah's franchise player this year, but he his talent, confidence, and mindset should all make fans drool over where the team goes from here when he comes into his prime.

Bailey's potential is why Utah plan to tank now but win later

Bailey's talent has been exciting to watch, but it hasn't exactly translated into wins for Utah, and that's been by design. Utah has incentive not to tank not just because this class is loaded, but also because they are in danger of giving their pick up to the Thunder.

However, the common consensus is that this is the last year the Jazz will intentionally be bad. That's because it is long past time for them to start winning with Lauri Markkanen, but an underrated reason is because Bailey has the talent to be something special, and Utah cannot afford to waste that.

They have seen their stars want out either because the team was declining (Deron Williams) or because it hurt their feelings (Gordon Hayward). They know from experience that it's in their best interest not to mess up what they have with Bailey on the team.

Progress might not come right away, but what convinces stars to stay with the team is winning. Utah's not doing that right now, but if they do it more over the next few years, that would help their chances of ensuring Bailey doesn't go the same path as Williams or Hayward.