Ace Bailey hasn't reported to the Jazz yet amid differing approach from his manager, representation

Yahoo

4 hours ago

New Utah Jazz rookie Ace Bailey appears determined to make himself the second biggest name to come out of the 2025 NBA Draft ... and not in a good way. Bailey's situation got even more cloudy Friday amid reports he has not reported to the Jazz yet.
As of Friday morning, Bailey had yet to join his new team, according to NJ.com. That development comes after an unusual draft process, in which Bailey declined to workout with individual teams ahead of the draft.
Advertisement
Prior to the draft, it was reported that Bailey wanted to land with one of three teams. The Jazz were not one of the team's on Bailey's reported list. Despite that, the team took him with the No. 5 overall pick. After the draft, it was reported that one of Bailey's reps told a team in the top-5 that it should not select Bailey in the draft. It's unclear which team was told to stay away from the Rutgers guard.
Bailey was asked about the situation Wednesday. He didn't seem openly angry about it, instead giving a neutral answer and saying, "I can control what I control. How they feel [is] how they feel."
The situation has only gotten murkier from there. Following Day 2 of the 2025 NBA Draft, Bailey's manager, Omar Cooper, declined to comment when asked about the former Rutgers' star's future in Utah.
On Friday morning, however, Andrew Witlieb, the president of GSE Worldwide, which represents Bailey, appeared on a Front Office Sports podcast and said Bailey was excited about going to Utah.
Advertisement
"He's thrilled to be going to Utah," Witlieb said. "Obviously, it's an honor to be selected in the top-5 of the NBA Draft. We think he can do a lot of great things out there."
The fact that Bailey had yet to report to the Jazz as of Friday morning isn't necessarily a big deal. Dallas Mavericks No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg waited until Friday to join his new team. It's possible Bailey will report later Friday and put an end to this whole saga.
That's the expectation from the Jazz, at least. Team vice president of player development Avery Bradley said he expects all the team's rookies to report on a normal timetable in preparation for Summer League.
Bradley didn't specifically say Bailey would report by Friday, just that he was expected to be with the team "this weekend."
Advertisement
The Jazz's other pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Walter Clayton Jr., has reportedly already joined the team.
Who is Omar Cooper?
Until Friday, Bailey's relationship with Cooper and GSE Worldwide was also unclear. Some outlets referred to Cooper as Bailey's agent despite reports Cooper is not a certified agent. Witlieb shed some light on that situation during his podcast appearance, referring to Cooper as Bailey's manager.
Witlieb said Cooper was focused on finding the best fit for Bailey, and was not necessarily concerned about how high Bailey was picked in the 2025 NBA Draft.
"This was led by Bailey's long-time manager, Omar Cooper, who we are partnering on with this. And Omar really focused more on fit rather than going third in the draft kind of thing. He wanted some place where Ace could have the best possible basketball fit for his game. And we think Utah is one of the best places he could have gone."
Cooper is listed as the "C.E.O and Founder of LifeStyle Sports Agency" on his Instagram page. A link to the agency's website leads to essentially a "coming soon" page.
Advertisement
Despite GSE Worldwide officially representing Bailey, Cooper appears to have served as the main point person for a lot of comments and interviews regarding Bailey leading up to the 2025 NBA Draft.
If Bailey truly doesn't want to play for the Jazz, he doesn't have many choices. The team reportedly has no interest in trading Bailey after making him the No. 5 overall pick in the draft, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
With the Jazz starting Summer League training camp Monday, Bailey still has time to report and change the narrative. If he's not with the team by Monday, however, that could pose some serious problems for him and the team.