The Milwaukee Bucks made Nate Ament the highest drafted Tennessee player of the Rick Barnes era last week when they selected the 6-foot-10 wing with the 13th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Milwaukee begins summer league play in the California Classic on Saturday when they face the Golden State Warriors blue team at 4 p.m. ET. However, Ament is not on the Bucks’ roster and will not be playing in their three games in California.
Why is the first round draft selection not on the Bucks’ initial summer league roster? According to reporting from Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ament not being on the roster is because he is not officially a member of the Bucks yet.
Milwaukee obtained the 13th overall pick in the NBA Draft in a trade with Miami that sent star Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Heat. That trade will not become official on Monday, July 6.
Once the trade goes through, Ament could be added to the Bucks’ roster for the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas. While only certain teams play in the California Classic and the Salt Lake City Summer League, the entire league competes in the 11-day (July 9-19) summer league in Las Vegas.
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Milwaukee is slated to play four summer league games in Las Vegas and could play more games in the playoff portion of the league.
Ament is coming off a standout freshman season at Tennessee where he averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The 6-foot-10 forward shot 39.9% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range and 79% from the foul line.
The freshman got better over the course of the season and played better in SEC play than he did in non conference play. In 16 SEC games, Ament averaged 19 points and six rebounds per game. He scored 20-plus points in 11 games while scoring a career-high 29 points in wins over Alabama and Ole Miss as well as in a loss against Oklahoma.
Eighteen of the NBA’s 30 teams have released their summer league rosters to date. Former Vols Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Zakai Zeigler and Igor Milicic Jr are on the San Antonio Spurs roster, Tyreke Key is on the Toronto Raptors roster, Chaz Lanier is on the Detroit Pistons roster and Keon Johnson is on the Orlando Magic roster.
A handful of former Vols who finished their careers at other schools are also participating in the summer league with Cam Carr on the Los Angeles Lakers, B.J. Edwards on the Sacramento Kings and Jonas Aidoo on the Utah Jazz.
