Jazz rookie Ace Bailey shows the good and bad in his NBA Summer League debut

Billy Heyen

Jazz rookie Ace Bailey shows the good and bad in his NBA Summer League debut image

It's easy to see why Ace Bailey has been so highly regarded for so long.

The Utah Jazz's No. 5 overall pick in the NBA Draft glides around the court, looking at ease in his NBA Summer League debut on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. 

And in that smooth movement around the court, Bailey can get to his shot whenever he wants.

Sometimes, though, shots don't go in.

Bailey shot just 3-for-13 in his Summer League debut, scoring eight points and grabbing seven rebounds.

On the encouraging side of thing, Bailey made multiple strong passes out of double teams.

On the downside, he did settle for difficult shots on multiple occasions, something he did at Rutgers, too.

MORE: 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe looks like the truth in his Summer League debut

There'll be plenty of time to increase efficiency, though, especially when he gets together with the full Utah roster and not just the slightly disjointed setup of Summer League.

He didn't look like a star in the way 76ers rookie VJ Edgecombe did on the other side of the court, but Bailey also looked like he belonged. 

If Ace can put together a few strong outings before the summer is done, he'll be well on his way to being the NBA bucket getter that he's been expected to be for so long.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle