Nate Ament has 'some of the best measurements in his class' at NBA Draft Combine

Tennessee basketball freshman Nate Ament on Monday measured in at 6-foot-9.5 at the NBA Draft Combine, weighed in at 210.8 pounds, had a wingspan of 6-11.5 and a standing reach of 9-1.5, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress. 

“Up an inch and 25 pounds over two years,” Givony wrote. “Some of the best measurements in his class, likely to intrigue every team picking 5-10.”

Givony watched Ament do draft prep last week in New York and noted his “projectable frame, fluidity and versatile skill set” makes it “easy to see why he’s a projected top-10 pick and the type of big wing NBA teams covet.”

ESPN projects Nate Ament to be No. 10 overall pick

ESPN’s NBA mock draft on Monday, updated after the NBA Draft lottery set the order at the top of the draft, kept Ament as the No. 10 overall pick to the Milwaukee Bucks.

“While Ament’s stock has slipped from an early top-five projection,” ESPN’s Jeremy Woo wrote, “he had productive stretches this season within a tricky team context and has room to help himself in workouts. Although scouts are split on whether he has star potential or projects better as a long-term supporting player, there is still plenty of intrigue around the opportunity to select a prospect of his caliber later in the lottery. 

“As a tall skill player with shot-making upside, Ament fits a player archetype that teams often love to swing on. As Milwaukee considers a post-Giannis future, a malleable upside swing like Ament could be a fit.”

ESPN projects Felix Okpara to be the No. 54 overall pick to the Golden State Warriors, up from the No. 60 pick in the previous update. Ja’Kobi Gillespie is now projected at No. 60 to the Washington Wizards after being the No. 57 pick in the previous mock draft.

The Wizards won the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, ahead of the Utah Jazz at No. 2, Memphis Grizzlies at No. 3 and Chicago Bulls at No. 4. The Los Angeles Clippers have the No. 5 pick. 

BYU’s AJ Dybantsa projected to be the No. 1 overall pick

ESPN has BYU freshman forward AJ Dybantsa as the No. 1 pick to the Wizards, ahead of Kansas freshman guard Darryn Peterson to the Utah Jazz at No. 2 and Duke freshman Cameron Boozer at No. 3 to the Grizzlies. North Carolina freshman forward Caleb Wilson is projected at No. 4 to the Bulls and Illinois freshman guard Keaton Wagler is at No. 5 to the Clippers.

Also ahead of Ament in the ESPN mock draft are Arkansas freshman guard Darius Acuff Jr.(No. 6, Brooklyn Nets), Houston freshman point guard Kingston Flemings (No. 7, Sacramento Kings), Louisville freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr. (No. 8, Atlanta Hawks) and Arizona freshman guard Brayden Burries (No. 9, Dallas Mavericks).

Other teams picking in the lottery are the Golden State Warriors at No. 11, Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 12, Miami Heat at No. 13 and the Charlotte Hornets at No. 14.

Ament averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 35 games during his freshman season at Tennessee, despite knee and ankle injuries suffered in late February derailing his late-season run. He started in all 35 games he played and averaged 29.7 minutes per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 33.3% from the 3-point line.