Tennessee wing Nate Ament has widely been looked at as a high-upside prospect in the 2026 draft class, but one that doesn’t come without some polarizing scouting reports. The one-and-done freshman put together a solid season at Tennessee that got better as the year went on, and is considered to be a definitive first-round pick at the NBA Draft in June.
The question, though, is just how high Ament goes.
A handful of recent mock drafts have connected Ament to the Milwaukee Bucks with the 10th overall pick and the Brooklyn Nets with the 6th overall pick. But some are now looking at a team just a few spots lower.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie released a new two-round mock draft on Monday morning, with a big write-up on Tennessee’s Nate Ament. He’s got Ament going 12th overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Ament’s draft range is one of the more difficult ones to figure out,” Vecenie writes. “He’s working out with teams throughout the middle of the lottery, and the buzz with the Nets, as Jon Rothstein would say, has been palpable. And yet, scouts are mixed on him. The ones who like him appreciate his ability to play with the ball in his hands, think that he’s a better shooter than he was this year at Tennessee and like his professional mindset. Sources say that Ament comes off as smart. He cares about his game and improving. He’s someone teams want to believe in. But other scouts worry about his frame and lack of strength, wondering if it’s comparable to some of the issues 2024 No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher has dealt with early in his career with the Hawks.”
While speaking on Yahoo Sports’ The Kevin O’ Connor Show last week, Ament revealed that he had a workout with the Thunder during Oklahoma City’s Western Conference Finals series against the San Antonio Spurs.
“A lot of it was reading closeouts, understanding the game,” Ament said. “OKC specific. Like they already have their main creators, stuff like that, so being able to learn how to play off them. Quick decisions, one-two dribbles, shooting when there’s a short closeout, driving when it’s a hard closeout.”
OKC’s two picks in the Top 17 picks make Ament a potential candidate for the franchise that just missed out on the NBA Finals. If Ament slides past Brooklyn and Milwaukee, assuming a trade up from OKC doesn’t happen, the Thunder could be in a solid position to take the Tennessee wing. And on Ament’s side of things, it wouldn’t necessarily be a situation where he would be called upon to make an immediate impact. There’s a bit more developmental time when you’re talking about Oklahoma City, as opposed to teams like Brooklyn and a potentially Giannis-less Milwaukee.
More From RTI: New NBA Mock Draft Projects Felix Okpara to Team Up With One of the League’s Most Exciting Young Players
During his freshman season at Tennessee, Ament averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 35 games. He proved to be a solid player early in the season, but he lacked some superstar moments. That was until SEC play, at least.
Starting with a blowout loss to Florida in early January, Ament’s offensive game began to solidify. That game, which took place on Jan. 10, was the start of a double-digit scoring streak that lasted through the SEC Tournament – aside from a late February game against Alabama, in which he only scored two points in 11 minutes after going down with a knee/ankle injury. As the SEC season progressed, Ament began to hunt his shot on the court. He was more assertive, more commanding, and more aggressive with his takes, whether it be from the perimeter or working to get to the foul line.
During a streak from Jan. 24 to Feb. 18, Ament went for 20+ points in six out of eight games, including 29 at Alabama, 28 against Ole Miss, 29 at Kentucky, and 29 against Oklahoma. And while he only scored 13 points on 3-of-13 shooting in the next game against Vanderbilt on Feb. 21, Ament had one of Tennessee’s most clutch late-game shots of the season to put the Vols over the top of their rivals in Nashville.
Ament is one of three Tennessee players that Vecenie has in his two-round mock draft for The Athletic. He’s also got Felix Okpara going 48th to the Dallas Mavericks and Ja’Kobi Gillespie going 50th to the Toronto Raptors.
Check out Sam Vecenie’s full NBA Mock Draft here.
