Jazz trading Ace Bailey possibility gets key update amid holdout, retirement rumors

Ace Bailey might not be in Utah yet, but the Jazz appear set on keeping him around.

They made him the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday. And while there are indications that the Rutgers freshman phenom might not be thrilled about Utah, he doesn't have a lot of leverage.

There have been rumors about a Bailey long-term holdout, and even parody posts about Bailey retiring.

The reality? The Jazz plan to have Bailey around.

ESPN's Shams Charania joined The Pat McAfee Show and shared the latest on Friday.

"Ace Bailey is ready to play basketball and the Jazz are ready to welcome him in," Charania said. "The bottom line is the Jazz don't start Summer League practice until Monday... The Jazz aren't going to be trading Ace Bailey."

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Most of the reporting in the two days since Bailey was picked has centered around the fact that he hasn't yet gone to Utah for any sort of introductory press conference or team meeting.

But as Charania said, Bailey has a few days.

He had an odd pre-draft process, canceling a late workout with the 76ers and in total not working out for a single NBA team in the relatively standard private workout process.

If Bailey wanted to go to a specific different team, no one has made clear what team that might be.

For now, he plays for the Utah Jazz, and that'll have to be good enough.

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