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

Caneman786 · Post #1 » by **Caneman786** » Sun Nov 2, 2025 9:55 pm

LINK TO DIRECTORY OF ALL PLAYERS

Nate Ament is the consensus #4 draft pick for the 2026 NBA draft following the big three of Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, and AJ Dybantsa.

Nate Ament was born on December 6, 2006 in Woodbridge, VA, and his hometown is Manassas, VA. Both of these cities are in Northern Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metro area. His full name is Nathaniel Herman Ament, and his last name is pronounced AY-ment (AY rhyming with gray, ment rhyming with bent). His father is a white man from Michigan and his mother is from Rwanda, hailing from the Tutsi ethnic group.

He was ranked #4 among American high school players in the class of 2025 last season, coming after the aforementioned big three.

This season, he will play for the Volunteers of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, that plays in the Southeastern conference. He will turn 19 years old during the season on December 6.

The University of Tennessee has listed him as a 6' 10", 207 pound, forward. The university mentioned that he has a 7' 1" wingspan.

Tomorrow he plays his first college basketball game at 7:00 PM Eastern time against the Mercer Bears of the Southern Conference.

Source: https://utsports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/nate-ament/22161

Ranking History:
Ranked #4 on August 30
Ranked #4 on November 2
Ranked #12 on January 5
Ranked #16 on January 17
Ranked #17 on February 21
Ranked #16 on February 27
Ranked #14 on March 18
Ranked #14 on March 26

The-Power · Post #2 » by **The-Power** » Sat Nov 8, 2025 2:23 pm

Just to start the conversation: what does he really do better than Wilson and would that be enough to overcome Wilson's advantages? I'm concerned that Ament is closer to the Ace Bailey mould in terms of play style and approach than I'm really comfortable with. But maybe I've just seen the wrong games of him.

Chi town · Post #3 » by **Chi town** » Sat Nov 8, 2025 5:57 pm

The-Power wrote:Just to start the conversation: what does he really do better than Wilson and would that be enough to overcome Wilson's advantages? I'm concerned that Ament is closer to the Ace Bailey mould in terms of play style and approach than I'm really comfortable with. But maybe I've just seen the wrong games of him.

He will be an elite shooter. Wilson may not be even average. Ament will be a movement shooter and I think he will get a stepback on ball too.

Wilson could be a monster on D and on ball getting FTs and creating and passing.

It’s said that Ament has an elite competitive attitude and work ethic.

BigGargamel · Post #4 » by **BigGargamel** » Sat Nov 8, 2025 7:00 pm

The-Power wrote:Just to start the conversation: what does he really do better than Wilson and would that be enough to overcome Wilson's advantages? I'm concerned that Ament is closer to the Ace Bailey mould in terms of play style and approach than I'm really comfortable with. But maybe I've just seen the wrong games of him.

I don't see any similarities between Ament and Bailey at all. I feel much more comfortable with Ament. He would have been the #2 pick last year, and could be that one guy to break into tier one with the big three.

tontoz · Post #5 » by **tontoz** » Sat Nov 8, 2025 7:34 pm

I watched the Duke exhibition games and Ament's shot was so bad it actually scared me lol. A few of his shots looked like they got hit by a gust of wind.

Watch on YouTube

Chokic · Post #6 » by **Chokic** » Sat Nov 8, 2025 8:02 pm

Hes my darkhorse to go #1 in draft come draft night.

Love his handle and shot creation ability at his size 6-10 6-11 along with his fluidity. Hes a late bloomer but looks like hes put on a bit of muscle his ceiling is the highest even over the more touted big 3.

Caneman786 · Post #7 » by **Caneman786** » Mon Nov 10, 2025 12:57 am

The-Power wrote:Just to start the conversation: what does he really do better than Wilson and would that be enough to overcome Wilson's advantages? I'm concerned that Ament is closer to the Ace Bailey mould in terms of play style and approach than I'm really comfortable with. But maybe I've just seen the wrong games of him.

So what's wrong with the Ace Bailey mold? I see that as far preferable to the Dylan Harper mold, or the Danny Wolf mold.

It would raise the stock if he's anything like Ace. Big scoring, strong rebounding wings. Not sure what the alternative is based on what we know.

Ament seems to have a better outside shot, but really it's probably too early to tell.

HadAnEffectHere · Post #8 » by **HadAnEffectHere** » Mon Nov 10, 2025 1:16 pm

Caneman786 wrote:
The-Power wrote:Just to start the conversation: what does he really do better than Wilson and would that be enough to overcome Wilson's advantages? I'm concerned that Ament is closer to the Ace Bailey mould in terms of play style and approach than I'm really comfortable with. But maybe I've just seen the wrong games of him.

So what's wrong with the Ace Bailey mold? I see that as far preferable to the Dylan Harper mold, or the Danny Wolf mold.

It would raise the stock if he's anything like Ace. Big scoring, strong rebounding wings. Not sure what the alternative is based on what we know.

Ament seems to have a better outside shot, but really it's probably too early to tell.

I mean, Ace was bad in college and has been horrific in the NBA through 10 games, lol.

Hopefully he turns it around.

Caneman786 · Post #9 » by **Caneman786** » Mon Nov 10, 2025 8:16 pm

HadAnEffectHere wrote:
Caneman786 wrote:
The-Power wrote:Just to start the conversation: what does he really do better than Wilson and would that be enough to overcome Wilson's advantages? I'm concerned that Ament is closer to the Ace Bailey mould in terms of play style and approach than I'm really comfortable with. But maybe I've just seen the wrong games of him.

So what's wrong with the Ace Bailey mold? I see that as far preferable to the Dylan Harper mold, or the Danny Wolf mold.

It would raise the stock if he's anything like Ace. Big scoring, strong rebounding wings. Not sure what the alternative is based on what we know.

Ament seems to have a better outside shot, but really it's probably too early to tell.

I mean, Ace was bad in college

By what measure? This is the first time I've heard this at least.

To me it was pretty clear he was the best player and leader of that team on both ends of the floor (something real special for a freshman forward). At the very least he was on Harper's level if not slightly better. Both ended up making third-team All-Big 10, showing they were comparable.

HadAnEffectHere wrote:...and has been horrific in the NBA through 10 games, lol.

Injured and sick. We can talk about this in February.

babyjax13 · Post #10 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Nov 10, 2025 8:38 pm

Caneman786 wrote:
HadAnEffectHere wrote:
Caneman786 wrote:
So what's wrong with the Ace Bailey mold? I see that as far preferable to the Dylan Harper mold, or the Danny Wolf mold.

It would raise the stock if he's anything like Ace. Big scoring, strong rebounding wings. Not sure what the alternative is based on what we know.

Ament seems to have a better outside shot, but really it's probably too early to tell.

I mean, Ace was bad in college

By what measure? This is the first time I've heard this at least.

To me it was pretty clear he was the best player and leader of that team on both ends of the floor (something real special for a freshman forward). At the very least he was on Harper's level if not slightly better. Both ended up making third-team All-Big 10, showing they were comparable.

HadAnEffectHere wrote:...and has been horrific in the NBA through 10 games, lol.

Injured and sick. We can talk about this in February.

His BPM/etc. were pretty poor (re: Ace). We had a lot of discussion about whether they were capturing something real, or if it was a function of the team context. I thought he was pretty fun defensively and was thrilled to get him. I also think he was a better prospect than Ament, but I like Ament a lot, too. He reminds me of Nic Batum and Danillo Gallinari in some ways. Super big, can handle the ball a bit, hypothetically he can shoot --- even if he isn't a star he has the tools to be an amazing core piece for a team.

tontoz · Post #11 » by **tontoz** » Mon Nov 10, 2025 10:48 pm

@ Ace being the best player at Rutgers. Harper was better by far. Harper was the best college player in recent memory at beating guys off the dribble, getting to the rim and finishing. Some of the stuff he did was just uncanny.

I watched the Alabama game. The night before Harper had dropped 36 on Notre Dame and the announcers were like yeah but he hasn't faced a defense like Alabama. Harper shredded Alabama for 37. They tried to single cover him and he went through them like a hot knife through butter. He started getting doubled a lot after that.

The ability to get to the rim and finish is far more valuable than Ace's midrange shooting, and he wasn't that great at it anyway. Don't get me wrong I liked Ace but Harper was on a different tier.

Ace really had 3 separate seasons at Rutgers. The first third he stunk, the middle third he was very good, then he stunk again in the last third. People tended to see what they wanted to see with him.

babyjax13 · Post #12 » by **babyjax13** » Mon Nov 10, 2025 11:01 pm

tontoz wrote::lol: @ Ace being the best player at Rutgers. Harper was better by far. Harper was the best college player in recent memory at beating guys off the dribble, getting to the rim and finishing. Some of the stuff he did was just uncanny.

I watched the Alabama game. The night before Harper had dropped 36 on Notre Dame and the announcers were like yeah but he hasn't faced a defense like Alabama. Harper shredded Alabama for 37. They tried to single cover him and he went through them like a hot knife through butter. He started getting doubled a lot after that.

The ability to get to the rim and finish is far more valuable than Ace's midrange shooting, and he wasn't that great at it anyway. Don't get me wrong I liked Ace but Harper was on a different tier.

Ace really had 3 separate seasons at Rutgers. The first third he stunk, the middle third he was very good, then he stunk again in the last third. People tended to see what they wanted to see with him.

Agree that Ace had three very distinct seasons.

The first third he showed some interesting things defensively but the offense was not efficient.
The second third he was really good on both sides.
The last third he looked checked out OR teams had scouted him.

Which was real? That was the core question going into the draft. I think it was some combination of the first and second third of the season.

tontoz · Post #13 » by **tontoz** » Tue Nov 18, 2025 1:57 pm

tontoz wrote:I watched the Duke exhibition games and Ament's shot was so bad it actually scared me lol. A few of his shots looked like they got hit by a gust of wind.

So far he is 4-18 from 3. Unless this improves he could fall pretty hard since other guys have been playing well.

babyjax13 · Post #14 » by **babyjax13** » Tue Nov 18, 2025 5:55 pm

The touch on the shot does look pretty alarming. That said, someone that big and mobile with his level of skill is still going to go lottery, even if it is a bit later. He also displays good touch in other areas of his game, so I think the shot will improve a bit. I do wonder what his archetype is, though. If he isn't an amazing shooter and he is as big as he is (he looks to be around 6-10 or 6-11 to me) with the ability to handle the ball a bit and create plays, what is he in the modern NBA? He doesn't have the handle or passing of Odom, or the scoring of Gallinari, but he feels like he shares some attributes with those players? I think he projects as a really interesting complimentary player even if the shot doesn't become a huge weapon. Wilson has def. passed him for me, though, and I have the usual suspects (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer) ahead, too.

Chuck Everett · Post #15 » by **Chuck Everett** » Tue Nov 18, 2025 7:49 pm

babyjax13 wrote:The touch on the shot does look pretty alarming. That said, someone that big and mobile with his level of skill is still going to go lottery, even if it is a bit later. He also displays good touch in other areas of his game, so I think the shot will improve a bit. I do wonder what his archetype is, though. If he isn't an amazing shooter and he is as big as he is (he looks to be around 6-10 or 6-11 to me) with the ability to handle the ball a bit and create plays, what is he in the modern NBA? He doesn't have the handle or passing of Odom, or the scoring of Gallinari, but he feels like he shares some attributes with those players? I think he projects as a really interesting complimentary player even if the shot doesn't become a huge weapon. Wilson has def. passed him for me, though, and I have the usual suspects (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer) ahead, too.

Those three point hoists are all well and good, but at some point, they need to actually go into the basket.

azcatz11 · Post #16 » by **azcatz11** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 4:39 am

Chuck Everett wrote:
babyjax13 wrote:The touch on the shot does look pretty alarming. That said, someone that big and mobile with his level of skill is still going to go lottery, even if it is a bit later. He also displays good touch in other areas of his game, so I think the shot will improve a bit. I do wonder what his archetype is, though. If he isn't an amazing shooter and he is as big as he is (he looks to be around 6-10 or 6-11 to me) with the ability to handle the ball a bit and create plays, what is he in the modern NBA? He doesn't have the handle or passing of Odom, or the scoring of Gallinari, but he feels like he shares some attributes with those players? I think he projects as a really interesting complimentary player even if the shot doesn't become a huge weapon. Wilson has def. passed him for me, though, and I have the usual suspects (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer) ahead, too.

Those three point hoists are all well and good, but at some point, they need to actually go into the basket.

I didn't see the big Houston win today but it looked like a stinker...he looked okay yesterday.

Maybe I'm missing something but this kid looks like a huge project. Assuming he declares I don't see him being an impact NBA player for like 5 years he's so raw.

ezhkw8u69e · Post #17 » by **ezhkw8u69e** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:35 am

Looks like an absolute stud to me. Guys with this kind of length who can shoot, dribble, and pass are rare. Kid checks all the boxes.

Chuck Everett · Post #18 » by **Chuck Everett** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:54 am

azcatz11 wrote:
Chuck Everett wrote:
babyjax13 wrote:The touch on the shot does look pretty alarming. That said, someone that big and mobile with his level of skill is still going to go lottery, even if it is a bit later. He also displays good touch in other areas of his game, so I think the shot will improve a bit. I do wonder what his archetype is, though. If he isn't an amazing shooter and he is as big as he is (he looks to be around 6-10 or 6-11 to me) with the ability to handle the ball a bit and create plays, what is he in the modern NBA? He doesn't have the handle or passing of Odom, or the scoring of Gallinari, but he feels like he shares some attributes with those players? I think he projects as a really interesting complimentary player even if the shot doesn't become a huge weapon. Wilson has def. passed him for me, though, and I have the usual suspects (Dybantsa, Peterson, Boozer) ahead, too.

Those three point hoists are all well and good, but at some point, they need to actually go into the basket.

I didn't see the big Houston win today but it looked like a stinker...he looked okay yesterday.

Maybe I'm missing something but this kid looks like a huge project. Assuming he declares I don't see him being an impact NBA player for like 5 years he's so raw.

Against Rutgers and Northern Kentucky, he's shot 6-10 from 3. Against the rest of the schedule (Mercer, Tennessee State, Houston, Rice, North Florida), he's shot 4-24. He seems to be a decent rebounder and has good passing instincts, but he ultimately was billed as an oversized wing scorer/shooter. SEC schedule with all those long, athletic wing defenders will show just how good he really is.

I mean, it's hard to say that he's shown anything this season that would make you say, I have to take this guy in the high lotto.

tontoz · Post #19 » by **tontoz** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 12:51 pm

I was high on this guy over the summer but i have pretty much lost interest. I was under the impression that he was a high level shooter but that doesn't seem to be the case.

His current TS of 56% is really lame considering the weak competition he's faced. I expect him to struggle consistently against good teams. With average athleticism he needs good skills to justify a high pick in this class and i don't see it.

ezhkw8u69e · Post #20 » by **ezhkw8u69e** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 1:44 pm

tontoz wrote:I was high on this guy over the summer but i have pretty much lost interest. I was under the impression that he was a high level shooter but that doesn't seem to be the case.

His current TS of 56% is really lame considering the weak competition he's faced. I expect him to struggle consistently against good teams. With average athleticism he needs good skills to justify a high pick in this class and i don't see it.

This post is everything that is wrong with "draft analysis".

First, giving up on a shooter 7 games into their career is madness. He's 10-34 on 3s. In the NBA that could be 3 games for a shooter. I mean for god sake man, take a breath and relax before you write this kid off. :lol:

Second, he's shooting 56% TS, but it's on 32% USG. Third, he's shooting 80% from the line with a FTR of 0.643 which is insane.

This isn't Emoni Bates. This kid has size, skill, and feel. That's rare. Honestly have no idea what you guys are watching here. These posts are going to age incredible poorly.

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