After one year with the Tennessee Volunteers, freshman wing Nate Ament is heading to the NBA. He’s expected to be a lottery pick in the draft later this month, but there have still been some polarizing scouting reports as draft experts try to narrow down his draft range.
ESPN tags Ament to the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 10, but there have also been reports that the Brooklyn Nets (No. 6) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 12, 17) are also interested in the former Volunteer.
But while we’ve talked extensively about his draft range in recent articles, one thing that hasn’t been mentioned as much is his NBA comparisons. ESPN lists four players to sift through when projecting what Ament’s future could look like.
On the high end, ESPN has Ament as a “bigger Harrison Barnes.” The 34-year-old has been a longtime NBA veteran with 14 years in the league. He’s played with the Golden State Warriors (NBA Champion in 2015), the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, and the San Antonio Spurs. On his extensive 1,000-game-plus career, Barnes has averaged 13.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He had his best seasons at the tail end of the Golden State stint and with Dallas.
ESPN also mentions Jalen Johnson on the high end, who “has developed into an All-NBA player for the Atlanta Hawks after one season at Duke and being a top prospect who fell a bit in the draft.
In the middle range, ESPN is looking at former Auburn wing Jabari Smith, who was the No. 3 pick back in the 2022 draft. Smith averaged 15.8 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Rockets this season: “He is another tall, thin combo forward who has developed into a solid starter for the Houston Rockets.”
On the low end, ESPN tags Ament’s comparison as Brooklyn Nets guard Ziaire Williams, who was taken with the 10th pick in the 2021 draft: “On the low end are several raw prospects who share Ament’s skill sets and have fallen flat. Williams is one of many who had similar tools.”
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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.
The 2026 NBA Draft will take place June 23-24.
