The Charlotte Hornets organization and its fans are likely deep in prayers now in hopes of receiving some good fortune in the 2025 draft lottery scheduled next week. Atop their draft board should be Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper — in that order.
If the Hornets fall to No. 3 or lower, there have been some calls for the organization to take a flyer on Ace Bailey. The promising forward out of Rutgers University appears to have one of the biggest offensive upsides in the 2025 rookie class.
Because of his talent, Bailey could end up as one of the draft's most prolific scorers, especially due to his ability to take and make shots even with defenders right up in his face. There's a reason he was listed as a shooting guard or small forward despite standing 6-10.
Ace Bailey is far from a seamless fit with Hornets
Logic might say that Charlotte should make a play for the former Scarlet Knights standout if it misses out on Flagg and Harper. After all, it could need an offensive boost following a regular season of ranking near the bottom of the league in several metrics in that department.
However, Bailey probably wouldn't thrive in an offense where he doesn't have the rock as often. With a scoring dynamo in LaMelo Ball directing traffic and Brandon Miller likely serving as the secondary shot creator, the 18-year-old would have to play more off-ball on the Hornets.
Unfortunately, his subpar finishing and 3-point efficiency might make it tough for him to rack up the points. Per Synergy (via Yahoo Sports), Bailey connected on 42.1 percent of his layups in his lone season in college. In addition, he sank just 34.6 percent of his 3-pointers and 69.2 percent of his free-throw attempts. As such, the second-generation hoopster will have some work to do to become a respectable outside shooter in the professional ranks.
Defensively, he has still yet to show that he can become above-average despite having the length and athleticism to be an all-world defender. A lineup of Ball, Miller, Bailey, Miles Bridges, and Mark Williams sounds like it would bleed a lot of points unless some of those guys become elite defenders overnight.
So, if Charlotte plans on taking Bailey and building around him for the future, it would probably have to explore shopping Ball and Bridges in order to bring in a pass-first-shoot-later point guard and a solid defender at either forward spot.
If the franchise is intent on still relying on Melo as one of its foundational pieces, it should steer clear of Bailey and focus on other prospects that also have star potential or high ceilings but are a better fit with the incumbent core pieces.