In a not-so-surprising move on Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Bucks made Tennessee freshman Nate Ament a part of their post-Giannis rebuild by selecting him with the 13th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Many scouts forecasted Ament to go to the Bucks with the 10th pick, but Milwaukee was able to still grab him at No. 13 after acquiring the pick from the Heat the day before.
It’s a new era in the Brew City with Antetokounmpo heading to South Beach, and the Bucks getting a slew of players and picks in return. But Milwaukee felt like Ament could be a good piece of its rebuild, and ESPN’s Bobby Marks believes that the picks of Ament and Arizona guard Brayden Burries are “a strong foundation to life after Antetokounmpo.
“Whether they pop as rookies in Milwaukee is a different question,” ESPN’s Ben Golliver wrote on Wednesday morning. “Ideally, Burries would be cast as a tertiary offensive option alongside an established star-level playmaker. Could he get lost in the shuffle as new Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins reworks the offense without Antetokounmpo? And it’s probably best to remain patient with Ament, who must fill out physically and improve his scoring efficiency.”
In addition to the analysis, the grades are in. Several national organizations gave out their picks, with Ament landing a small range of optimistic reports coming out of the first round on Tuesday night.
Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin O’Connor gave Ament an A- grade, while the New York Post’s Zach Braziller gave the pick a standalone A.
“The 6-foot-10 Ament needs to get stronger and be more efficient, but he has the length and shotmaking prowess teams covet on the wing,” Braziller writes. “He is also used to tough coaching, after spending his freshman year with Rick Barnes at Tennessee.”
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There were some lower grades, too.
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley and CBS Sports’ Adam Finkelstein both gave the Bucks a B+ for the selection.
“Ament has a lack of strength and sheer force in his game, which can impact his physicality,” Finkelstein writes. He can play upright, without ideal bend or upper body elasticity, on both ends of the floor, and is somewhat in between positions defensively. Ament’s shooting and finishing numbers haven’t been nearly as encouraging in college as they were in high school. While his freshman year was up and down, Ament’s overall arc has been linear, and there’s still glaring potential. That upside makes him a logical choice here.”
Overall, Ament didn’t really slide all that much from his pre-draft projections. It certainly wasn’t a Dalton Knecht 2024 scenario, to say the least. Some had Ament tagged to the Mavericks at No. 9, but many had him to the Bucks at No. 10. With Milwaukee able to catch an extra Top 13 pick due to the Giannis trade with the Heat, the Bucks felt more comfortable in snagged Burries off the board quickly and going with Ament a few picks later. So, in hindsight, it’s less of a “slide” and more of Milwaukee strategizing how they could get both players that they wanted.
“Ament has some real warts, but he also has a shot at being special. Milwaukee absolutely needs to take swings on this kind of upside as it starts to navigate life without Giannis Antetokounmpo,” Bucklet writes.
