PHILADELPHIA — A few weeks ago at the NBA draft combine, Ace Bailey, the Rutgers standout freshman and one of the top talents in this year’s draft, was asked who he models his game after.

Among the first names he mentioned was Paul George, the 76ers’ skilled and athletic forward known for his shot creation, length and ballhandling ability. Many of George’s strengths align with Bailey’s game, and the wing told reporters in Chicago that “I hear [the comparison] a lot.” Considering that many are projecting Bailey to the Sixers with the third pick, the pair could end up as teammates after next month’s draft.

On Monday’s Podcast P episode, George weighed in on what it means to him for rising NBA talents to model their games after him, while heaping big praise on the 6-foot-8 draft prospect.

“I always want to inspire and give kids the freedom to — especially guys my type, that have similar skill sets — the freedom of, ‘All right, I can be creative at this size,’ ” George said. “ ‘I can be a playmaker, a scorer. I can be fluid at this size. I can be a ballhandler at this size.’ What I love about [Bailey], man, is, I think he has big-time potential. He has big-time talent. He can score from any spot on the floor. He has an isolation game, which you don’t see that often in kids that size, that early. He can make plays. He can shoot over top of defenses. He can take advantage of mismatches. He can handle the ball and pick-and-rolls. He can catch and shoot. He can defend.

“If there was no Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey would have been an even bigger name that people would have been talking about in this draft. … I think he’s going to come into the league and make noise right away.”

Bailey, the No. 2 high school prospect in the 2024 class behind Duke’s Flagg, finished his lone season at Rutgers averaging 17.6 pounds, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 30 games — but failed to make the NCAA Tournament. Bailey’s teammate, Dylan Harper, also is expected to go inside the top three, alongside Flagg, the consensus top talent.

Later in the podcast episode, George was joined by Carmelo Anthony, the 10-time All-Star and Hall of Famer. George, who called the Rutgers standout “iso-ball ready” and a “go-getter,” asked Anthony who has the higher ceiling between Flagg and Bailey.

“I [expletive] love Ace, his skill set, and his will to get to a spot and his will to work on certain [stuff],” Anthony said. “He’s really — he’s relentless working on, like, spots on the court. We’ve seen Ace before. That’s why it’s not talked about like that. We’ve seen Ace, we’ve seen PGs, we’ve seen [Kevin Garnetts], we’ve seen [Tracy McGradys], we’ve seen Melos, we’ve seen Jayson [Tatums]. … We haven’t seen — and not to make this Black and white — but we haven’t seen a white boy like [Flagg].

“This is why we want to see that even more. We going to hear about it even more. And you ain’t going to hear about Ace as much.”

Anthony added that he believes Bailey’s “skill set is way far past Cooper [Flagg’s] skill set.”

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