At the center of the conversation is Ish from the Joe Budden Podcast circle—connected to Bailey through family ties and industry influence—whose business-first approach may be backfiring. Critics argue that the agency representing Bailey has leaned into trying to “reinvent” the revenue model for athletes, possibly advising him to avoid pre-draft workouts and traditional media engagements in favor of monetized, controlled platforms like Patreon or Twitch.

“If you want to get paid to interview, go make a Cameo,” one industry insider said. “But don’t expect media to pay you to do their job. That’s not how it works—especially before you’ve proven anything.”

The agency’s tight control over Bailey’s public presence and refusal to participate in typical pre-draft activities—including skipping interviews and workouts—has rubbed teams the wrong way. Some suspect it was a calculated attempt to manipulate where Bailey landed. He made it known he did not want to be drafted by the Utah Jazz, instead preferring Washington, New Orleans, or Brooklyn. Utah took him anyway with the No. 5 pick, despite Bailey’s camp reportedly expressing disinterest.

“I had no idea they were interested,” Bailey said post-draft, sounding more blindsided than honored. According to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, “This was not one of his preferred destinations… a little bit of a stunner.”

That surprise has led to speculation Bailey could try to force his way out the moment he’s eligible. Fans and analysts alike have questioned if his agency sabotaged his draft standing—either to land him with a team where he’d get more minutes or to engineer a future trade.

Adding more complexity is the Cooper-Bailey family web. Omar Cooper—father of former NBA prospect Sharife Cooper and WNBA hopeful Tea Cooper—is also reportedly involved. Critics argue Sharife, though talented, entered the NBA draft too soon, and Tea, despite being good enough to stay on a roster, never reestablished herself after having a child—an unfortunate reality in the limited-scope WNBA.

That same urgency now surrounds Bailey. If the Coopers are pulling strings again, it’s raising red flags among executives about history repeating itself.

Ultimately, Bailey’s natural ability isn’t in question. He’s a versatile scorer with size and elite touch. But if his representation continues to alienate teams, deny access, and project entitlement before he’s even played a game, he may become a cautionary tale for future prospects.

In the modern NBA, image and professionalism matter as much as talent. And right now, Ace Bailey’s camp is putting both at risk.

With the Jazz likely too good to tank out for Victor, would Danny Ainge pull a big swing using all the picks he’s accumulated so far?

The theory goes, Kevin Durant is still unhappy in Brooklyn and will ask for another trade. When that happens only a handful of teams will have enough assets to make it make sense for Brooklyn and Utah is one of those teams. Danny Ainge bows out the Wembanyama sweeps and instead puts together an instant contender with KD.

Here is a Utah Jazz/Brooklyn Nets trade that brings Kevin Durant to the Jazz:

Brooklyn Nets Receive:

G Collin Sexton
G/F Malik Beasley
G/F Talen Horton-Tucker
2023 First-Round Pick (UTA)
2025 First-Round Pick (CLE via UTA)
2026 First Round Pick (MIN or CLE via UTA)
2027 First-Round Pick (UTA)
2028 First-Round Pick (Swap – UTA)
2029 First-Round Pick (UTA)

Utah Jazz Receive:

F Kevin Durant

Sometime soon, Kevin Durant is going to ask again for a trade. He’s going to get traded to one of the teams with the most assets in the NBA, Danny Ainge will package up all the accumulated picks, and the Utah Jazz will trade for Durant #KevinDurant #NBA #NBATwitterLive #utahjazz

— Connor Rock (@connorjamesrock) October 24, 2022

Danny Ainge seeing this Kyrie drama and realizing he can trade all the picks he acquired trying to tank the Jazz for Durant and accidentally create the best team in the NBA pic.twitter.com/Im8hkd2bNU

— california bucks (@Russell_Palmer2) November 4, 2022

Fans are burning his jersey below: