Ace Bailey coming to draft realization Jonathan Kuminga knows all too well

Where you're drafted in the NBA matters a lot. Just ask Jonathan Kuminga who, outside the joy of winning a championship in his rookie season, will probably reflect and wished that he'd been drafted by a rebuilding team in 2021 rather than a Golden State Warriors squad who were trying to win another title.

Finding yourself in the right situation as a young player can be paramount to career success, so much so that a top prospect may be deliberately trying to angle his way to a certain team in next week's NBA Draft.

Ace Bailey has cancelled his pre-draft meeting with the 76ers

Rutgers forward Ace Bailey has long been viewed as the third-best prospect in this draft class, yet his chances of actually going third overall are dwindling of his own accord. ESPN's Jonathan Givony reported late on Wednesday that Bailey had cancelled his pre-draft meeting with the Philadelphia 76ers, with the 18-year-old the only US-based prospect yet to visit an NBA team.

The bizarre nature of Bailey's pre-draft process has everyone seeking answers of what's truly going on, with many like draft analyst Sam Vecenie of The Athletic suggesting that Bailey "has something lined up somewhere that he feels comfortable with."

Essentially tanking your draft stock to land in one specific location is a huge gamble to take and doesn't do much for your reputation, but perhaps Bailey has come to the realization that he doesn't want to end up like Kuminga at a spot where his role and playing time could be limited.

Perhaps he has a reason to be nervous. Philadelphia is an unusual position -- somewhat like Golden State four years ago -- where they hold the No. 3 pick but are from rebuilding mode. With Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, the 76ers will be hoping that, with some injury luck, they can return to being a strong contender in the Eastern Conference again next season.

With that trio in place, not to mention the returning Jared McCain and others like Quentin Grimes, it's almost inevitable that Bailey will be asked to be a role player more so than be a primary option in Nick Nurse's offense.

Kuminga knows all too well about the difficulty in accepting a lesser role when you're a young prospect who holds the aspirations of becoming a star. Four years into his career and none of us are still 100% sure on where Kuminga ends up -- whether he can become an All-Star calibre player, or if he finally settles into nothing more than a supplementary role on a good team. In the meantime, his continually turbulent role with the Warriors may have cost him tens of millions heading into restricted free agency.

Perhaps Bailey has seen Kuminga's situation and wants to totally avoid that, taking control of his own destiny even before the draft and even if it means rubbing some up the wrong way.