Nate Ament, Tennessee - 2026 NBA draft - The edge of the lottery

ReggiesKnicks · Post #61 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 6:39 pm

This guy is just clearly a better prospect than Ace Bailey, right?

SeattleJazzFan · Post #62 » by **SeattleJazzFan** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 9:31 pm

ReggiesKnicks wrote:This guy is just clearly a better prospect than Ace Bailey, right?

i think so, and this comes from a guy who not only has been down on Ament, but loved Bailey pre-draft and is an Ace homer now as a jazz fan.

i think he'll be an inch or so taller, i think he's a better pure shooter, probably a bit better off the bounce, better feel as a passer (not hard) and defense is probably even. i'd say bailey is a tad more explosive athletically.

tontoz · Post #63 » by **tontoz** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 9:35 pm

On the season he has an EFG of 48%. That is pretty lame for a guy 6'10.

ReggiesKnicks · Post #64 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 9:55 pm

tontoz wrote:On the season he has an EFG of 48%. That is pretty lame for a guy 6'10.

Ace Bailey eFG% in Conference: 50.8
Nate Ament eFG% in Conference: 50.3

Ace Bailey FT% in Conference: 73.1
Nate Ament FG% in Conference: 80.4

tontoz · Post #65 » by **tontoz** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:05 pm

ReggiesKnicks wrote:
tontoz wrote:On the season he has an EFG of 48%. That is pretty lame for a guy 6'10.

Ace Bailey eFG% in Conference: 50.8
Nate Ament eFG% in Conference: 50.3

Ace Bailey FT% in Conference: 73.1
Nate Ament FG% in Conference: 80.4

The SEC has 16 teams. How many of them are ranked now, maybe 3? Not impressed

He's only played 5 games against ranked teams all season, only 1 against a top 10 team.

ReggiesKnicks · Post #66 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:23 pm

tontoz wrote:
ReggiesKnicks wrote:
tontoz wrote:On the season he has an EFG of 48%. That is pretty lame for a guy 6'10.

Ace Bailey eFG% in Conference: 50.8
Nate Ament eFG% in Conference: 50.3

Ace Bailey FT% in Conference: 73.1
Nate Ament FG% in Conference: 80.4

The SEC has 16 teams. How many of them are ranked now, maybe 3? Not impressed

He's only played 5 games against ranked teams all season, only 1 against a top 10 team.

Big Ten has 18 teams
They had 4 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and ended with 5 ranked.

The ACC has 16 teams
They had 6 Ranked at the start of the 2026 season and currently have 4 ranked.

Where is the big difference?

tontoz · Post #67 » by **tontoz** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:32 pm

ReggiesKnicks wrote:
tontoz wrote:
ReggiesKnicks wrote:
Ace Bailey eFG% in Conference: 50.8
Nate Ament eFG% in Conference: 50.3

Ace Bailey FT% in Conference: 73.1
Nate Ament FG% in Conference: 80.4

The SEC has 16 teams. How many of them are ranked now, maybe 3? Not impressed

He's only played 5 games against ranked teams all season, only 1 against a top 10 team.

Big Ten has 18 teams
They had 4 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and ended with 5 ranked.

The ACC has 16 teams
They had 6 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and currently have 4 ranked.

Where is the big difference?

Last year Baylor played 14 teams that were ranked. Tennessee has played 5 so don't expect me to care about Aments shooting against the conference opponents.

An EFG of 48% is lame for any NBA prospect, especially one that is 6'10.

ReggiesKnicks · Post #68 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:34 pm

tontoz wrote:
ReggiesKnicks wrote:
tontoz wrote:

The SEC has 16 teams. How many of them are ranked now, maybe 3? Not impressed

He's only played 5 games against ranked teams all season, only 1 against a top 10 team.

Big Ten has 18 teams
They had 4 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and ended with 5 ranked.

The ACC has 16 teams
They had 6 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and currently have 4 ranked.

Where is the big difference?

Last year Baylor played 14 teams that were ranked. Tennessee has played 5 so don't expect me to care about Aments shooting against the conference opponents.

An EFG of 48% is lame for any NBA prospect, especially one that is 6'10.

Sorry, you just keep moving the goal posts.

What does Baylor have to do with this, by the way?

tontoz · Post #69 » by **tontoz** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:37 pm

OOps got Ace mixed up with vj lol.

Rutgers played 8 games against ranked opponents last year btw. The SEC just isn't that strong this year so i really don't care what Ament shot in conference.

Ace probably wouldn't crack the top 8 in this draft.

babyjax13 · Post #70 » by **babyjax13** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:47 pm

tontoz wrote:OOps got Ace mixed up with vj lol.

Rutgers played 8 games against ranked opponents last year btw. The SEC just isn't that strong this year so i really don't care what Ament shot in conference.

Ace probably wouldn't crack the top 8 in this draft.

See, I would probably take Ace 5th in this draft

tontoz · Post #71 » by **tontoz** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 10:53 pm

babyjax13 wrote:
tontoz wrote:OOps got Ace mixed up with vj lol.

Rutgers played 8 games against ranked opponents last year btw. The SEC just isn't that strong this year so i really don't care what Ament shot in conference.

Ace probably wouldn't crack the top 8 in this draft.

See, I would probably take Ace 5th in this draft

I cant see taking Ace over any these top pg prospects. All of Flemings/Wagler/Acuff/Brown blow Ace out of the water statistically.

Ace didn't shoot well in college and wasn't good getting to the rim either, just like Ament.

ReggiesKnicks · Post #72 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 11:25 pm

babyjax13 wrote:
tontoz wrote:OOps got Ace mixed up with vj lol.

Rutgers played 8 games against ranked opponents last year btw. The SEC just isn't that strong this year so i really don't care what Ament shot in conference.

Ace probably wouldn't crack the top 8 in this draft.

See, I would probably take Ace 5th in this draft

That's pretty wild. What makes him a better prospect than Peterson, Dybansta, Boozer, Wilson, Ament, Flemings, Brown Jr, or Acuff?

babyjax13 · Post #73 » by **babyjax13** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 11:51 pm

tontoz wrote:
babyjax13 wrote:
tontoz wrote:OOps got Ace mixed up with vj lol.

Rutgers played 8 games against ranked opponents last year btw. The SEC just isn't that strong this year so i really don't care what Ament shot in conference.

Ace probably wouldn't crack the top 8 in this draft.

See, I would probably take Ace 5th in this draft

I cant see taking Ace over any these top pg prospects. All of Flemings/Wagler/Acuff/Brown blow Ace out of the water statistically.

Ace didn't shoot well in college and wasn't good getting to the rim either, just like Ament.

I just think big wings have so much more impact and he is a great talent. I do love Acuff, th9ugh, I can't believe how much I enjoy watching him play.

babyjax13 · Post #74 » by **babyjax13** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 11:53 pm

ReggiesKnicks wrote:
babyjax13 wrote:
tontoz wrote:OOps got Ace mixed up with vj lol.

Rutgers played 8 games against ranked opponents last year btw. The SEC just isn't that strong this year so i really don't care what Ament shot in conference.

Ace probably wouldn't crack the top 8 in this draft.

See, I would probably take Ace 5th in this draft

That's pretty wild. What makes him a better prospect than Peterson, Dybansta, Boozer, Wilson, Ament, Flemings, Brown Jr, or Acuff?

Well I would have all of Peterson/Dybantsa/Boozer/Wilson ahead of him, but I think someone who is as talented as Ace at his size just has much more upside than a small guard even if he is less polished. That could look like a silly take on retrospect, but Ace has so many amazing tools and parts of his game are very polished (and others are very raw).

Cammo101 · Post #75 » by **Cammo101** » Thu Feb 19, 2026 11:58 pm

ReggiesKnicks wrote:This guy is just clearly a better prospect than Ace Bailey, right?

Not sure I agree with this, but the gap isn't as wide as a lot of people seem to act like it is.

Chuck Everett · Post #76 » by **Chuck Everett** » Thu Mar 12, 2026 9:32 pm

So Nate had gotten injured a few games ago. Well, he came back surprisingly and showed a lot of things this afternoon against Auburn. His size as a shooter could make him a real weapon. This was good to see just due to the competitiveness and the physicality.

Yallbecrazy · Post #77 » by **Yallbecrazy** » Tue Mar 24, 2026 12:16 pm

tontoz wrote:
ReggiesKnicks wrote:
tontoz wrote:

The SEC has 16 teams. How many of them are ranked now, maybe 3? Not impressed

He's only played 5 games against ranked teams all season, only 1 against a top 10 team.

Big Ten has 18 teams
They had 4 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and ended with 5 ranked.

The ACC has 16 teams
They had 6 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and currently have 4 ranked.

Where is the big difference?

Last year Baylor played 14 teams that were ranked. Tennessee has played 5 so don't expect me to care about Aments shooting against the conference opponents.

An EFG of 48% is lame for any NBA prospect, especially one that is 6'10.

SEC isn't as strong as last year, but it's still the best conference in college basketball top to bottom and I don't think it's all that close. It's also way more physical than the other conferences. I didn't like Ace, and I'm down on Ament relative to consensus, but saying something like a guy played nobodies when he played in the SEC is complete nonsense.

ReggiesKnicks · Post #78 » by **ReggiesKnicks** » Tue Mar 24, 2026 12:29 pm

Yallbecrazy wrote:
tontoz wrote:
ReggiesKnicks wrote:
Big Ten has 18 teams
They had 4 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and ended with 5 ranked.

The ACC has 16 teams
They had 6 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and currently have 4 ranked.

Where is the big difference?

Last year Baylor played 14 teams that were ranked. Tennessee has played 5 so don't expect me to care about Aments shooting against the conference opponents.

An EFG of 48% is lame for any NBA prospect, especially one that is 6'10.

SEC isn't as strong as last year, but it's still the best conference in college basketball top to bottom and I don't think it's all that close. It's also way more physical than the other conferences. I didn't like Ace, and I'm down on Ament relative to consensus, but saying something like a guy played nobodies when he played in the SEC is complete nonsense.

Yeah it is a weird hill to die on. Like just say you don't like Ament. A lot of people don't. Frankly, I am not enamoured with him either. But there is no reason to fabricate a false narrative just to degrade a player you dislike further.

tontoz · Post #79 » by **tontoz** » Tue Mar 24, 2026 12:31 pm

Yallbecrazy wrote:
tontoz wrote:
ReggiesKnicks wrote:
Big Ten has 18 teams
They had 4 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and ended with 5 ranked.

The ACC has 16 teams
They had 6 Ranked at the start of the 2025 season and currently have 4 ranked.

Where is the big difference?

Last year Baylor played 14 teams that were ranked. Tennessee has played 5 so don't expect me to care about Aments shooting against the conference opponents.

An EFG of 48% is lame for any NBA prospect, especially one that is 6'10.

SEC isn't as strong as last year, but it's still the best conference in college basketball top to bottom and I don't think it's all that close. It's also way more physical than the other conferences. I didn't like Ace, and I'm down on Ament relative to consensus, but saying something like a guy played nobodies when he played in the SEC is complete nonsense.

Putting up numbers against .500 teams doesnt impress me regardless of what conference they are in. When people talk about the stretch of conference games where Ament played well it was against mediocre teams.

Over his last 7 games when the competition got tougher he hasn't done much. The only good game he had was against 17-16 Auburn. Just because Auburn is in the SEC doesn't mean crap to me. They are a NIT team.

azcatz11 · Post #80 » by **azcatz11** » Tue Mar 24, 2026 8:25 pm

What is one thing this kid does well? He has size and a good handle and people go crazy. His frame is narrow and he’s not a good shooter. None of what he does translates to being a good basketball player. It’s laughable this kid has hype

How high will Ament be picked in the 2026 NBA Draft?