The Utah Jazz were supposed to have been in the top four at the 2025 NBA Draft. They finished the 2024-25 regular season with the worst record in the NBA, and were tied with the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards for the best odds of landing either the No. 1 pick or a top-four selection.
Instead, Utah has the No. 5 pick and will now be hoping that the players they previously prioritized will somehow become available to them—a dream that's inching closer to reality by the day.
One of the most reliable developments during draft season is players who were previously top-five locks shifting around more than anticipated. There's often a consensus top two or even three picks, but after that, it's far less predictable than most let on.
In 2025, that unpredictability is beginning to open the door for Utah to land one of the players they would've been happy to select with a top-three pick: Ace Bailey.
Unfortunately, Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper appear to be locked in as players who will be selected before Utah has a chance to pick them. The discourse after them, however, seems to paint a picture of absolute uncertainty in terms of how the rest of the top five will play out.
With this in mind, there's a genuine possibility that Bailey could slide to No. 5 and make once-unrealistic Jazz dreams come true.
NBA Draft trending toward Jazz having chance to land Ace Bailey at No. 5
Assuming rumors hold true, it appears as though Flagg will go No. 1 to the Dallas Mavericks and Harper will be selected by the San Antonio Spurs at No. 2. V.J. Edgecombe, meanwhile, is viewed as a "prime candidate" to come off the board at No. 3 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
If that scenario plays out, the list of remaining players would include Bailey—a prospect whom the Charlotte Hornets have reason to think twice about selecting.
Charlotte already has a player cut from Bailey's cloth in rising star Brandon Miller. It also runs its offense through high-usage point guard LaMelo Ball and has another volume scorer at forward in veteran Miles Bridges.
With this in mind, it's at least worth considering the possibility that the Hornets could pass on Bailey and instead prioritize a player at a position of need.
Options certainly exist if Charlotte chooses to go down that path. It showed a willingness to trade Mark Williams that could imply an openness to prioritizing the center position this summer, which could lead them to rising prospect Khaman Maluach.
The Hornets may also be looking for a shooting guard they can pair with Ball, which could bring explosive scoring threat Tre Johnson and his 6'10.25" wingspan to Charlotte.
In either one of those scenarios, the dream of drafting Bailey would be kept alive. Missing out on the Rutgers star certainly wouldn't spell disaster, as there are countless prospects whom the Jazz should be considering, but there's no way around his upside nor how badly Utah needs a star-caliber wing.
Jazz fans shouldn't hold their breaths, but if recent trends spark the outcome they're pointing toward, Bailey could be available at No. 5.