Spurs fans should all be giving thanks for the position the NBA Draft Lottery put the team in. With a week to go before the big day, mock drafts are still unsettled behind Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. Ace Bailey, in particular, just had a report dropped on him that paints the former Rutgers forward in a very unfavorable light. Initial projections had the kid going number three, but that's no longer the case.
Ace Bailey slides to Washington at 6 in our latest mock draft, due to a confluence of influences, including his own refusal to work out for teams in his draft range.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 17, 2025
ESPN: https://t.co/8cKwiPfx2x pic.twitter.com/RYmpzRWKKo
This isn't the first time Bailey has been questioned since the draft process began. His response to a question about where his confidence comes from during the combine reeked of arrogance. "Workouts," Ace told reporters, "The shots I do in workouts are the shots I do in a game." He then added, "What might be a bad shot for you, you don’t work on it, I work on it.”
I've seen this quote discussed as confidence, but there is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and as the lottery-projected wing has recently demonstrated, it seems to be the latter. Meanwhile, Dylan Harper has been the perfect prospect. He's made zero headlines because he just honors his commitments and always says the right thing. The Spurs really landed at the perfect spot.
Spurs are sitting pretty with the number two overall pick
There are no questions about where Flagg or Harper are going. In fact, HoopsHype did us all the favor of aggregating (compiling) the different mock drafts from ten publications, including reputable companies such as ESPN, The Athletic, and USA Today, to name a few. The article aims to show us the highest and lowest each prospect ranked. Cooper was at number one across the board.
Not a single site ranked him lower than that. The same went for Dylan at number two. After the former Scarlet Knight guard, it got dicey. The highest Ace Bailey ranked was third, but the lowest was ninth. A player as talented as Oklahoma's Jeremiah Fears was ranked anywhere from fifth to 19th.
While most agree that this is a deep class of skilled prospects, nobody seems to agree on just how valuable each player is once we get past Coop and Harper.
This is also why there's no way the San Antonio Spurs will trade down in this draft unless they are completely blown away. There's a price for just about everything not named Victor Wembanyama, but it would have to be a deal Brian Wright couldn't refuse.
Some fans wouldn't even trade the pick for Giannis Antetokounmpo. Whether you agree or not, you can't deny that having that as an option (if he ever asks for a trade) means you're in a very promising situation.