Teams like the San Antonio Spurs and the Philadelphia 76ers had a great time at the draft due to their lottery luck. However, despite losing in the lottery, the Utah Jazz arguably were the biggest winners of the 2025 NBA Draft. They were able to get an offensively talented wing with defensive upside in Ace Bailey, a three-point sniper and NCAA champion in Walter Clayton Jr., and an experienced three-level scorer in John Tonja. Not only does each rookie fit the roster, but they also bring a more serious mentality to the team. Let’s delve into the three reasons why the Utah Jazz won the 2025 NBA Draft.
3 Reasons Why The Utah Jazz Won The 2025 NBA Draft
#1: Shooting Is The Way
As one of the worst shooting teams this past season, gaining three excellent shooters is a major win. All three of Bailey, Clayton, and Tonje have demonstrated in college that they are elite shooters who can be deployed in various shooting roles. More impressively, all three have shown that they can be pull-up threats when playing on the ball as well. Their ability to space the floor will help with the overall spacing issues that the Jazz tend to have. Specifically, they can help open up the floor for Lauri Markkanen and Isaiah Collier to do their work. Bailey and Tonje, in particular, both provide valuable spacing on the wings outside of Markkanen and Brice Sensabaugh. None of the other wing players on the roster are consistent shooters, so getting both Bailey and Tonje can help in that regard.
#2: Getting More Serious
One big reason why the Jazz won the draft is the acquisition of more serious players in the draft. Specifically, drafting Clayton and Tonje, two players with extensive college experience, will have a positive influence on this Jazz team. While they are rookies, both players have experience leading their teams to winning seasons and multiple NCAA tournaments. Clayton, in particular, was the best player and leader for Florida when they won the tournament this past season. Adding those two can help the team slowly move towards winning ways and be more serious overall. Undoubtedly, the current Jazz core is very young and has serious growing pains to work through. They would immensely benefit from the leadership and stability that both players can provide on the court. Adding players with winning experience like Clayton and Tonje is the right move for the Jazz’s long-term rebuild.
#3: Betting On Bailey
As for the third reason why the Jazz won the draft, it is their optimistic bet on Bailey and his upside. Unquestionably, Bailey has plenty of questions he needs to answer to reach his full potential. His shot selection is suspect, he still needs to fill out his body, and he needs to be more engaged defensively, among other things. Nevertheless, Bailey still has tons of potential and plenty of skills to work with. He is undoubtedly one of the most dynamic scorers in the draft this year. His ability to create shots in the mid-range is among the best in the class. He has all the tools to be an extremely impactful defender and showed flashes of that in college.
Should Bailey develop correctly, he can return excellent value for the Jazz. Bailey certainly has star upside, and if everything breaks right, he can be one of the very best players in his class. The Jazz clearly saw that potential in Bailey and took him with the fifth pick, even if Bailey didn’t want to go there. In terms of betting on a prospect’s upside, the Jazz made the right choice in taking him. They will need to develop him properly, but the value gained from that would be massive.
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