This one has been in circulation since draft night in June: Washington is the
lottery team, according to various rivals, that was the preferred landing spot
for Ace Bailey.
The Wizards had the sixth overall pick. Bailey’s camp refused to engage with
teams interested in bringing him in for an individual workout in the days
leading up to the June 25 draft in the apparent hope of steering himself to the
Wizards. Then Utah, with the No. 5 overall pick, stunningly selected Bailey
despite a flurry of external suggestions that the Rutgers star wouldn’t want to
be in Salt Lake City and might even refuse to report to the Jazz.
The latest chapter in the story quietly unfolded late last week, when the
Wizards signed Sharife Cooper to a two-way contract. Cooper, of course, is
the son of Bailey’s manager Omar Cooper, who is said to have largely
orchestrated Bailey’s polarizing pre-draft process as The People’s Insider
Jake Fischer detailed below in June