There's no denying that Nate Ament, the Milwaukee Bucks' selection with the 13th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, has massive untapped potential to become a high-impact player in the pros. By the same token, however, there's a long way for him to go in order to achieve that, as we learned through his performance in the NBA Summer League earlier this year.
The 19-year-old forward out of Tennessee is still raw, but has the baseline skill set you want to see from a modern player at his position. Ament is a capable ball-handler, willing shooter, and talented scorer when he gets near the basket, with the defensive baseline required to compete at the highest level. All the while, his jump shot is streaky, his handle is sometimes too loose, and at times, his competitive edge gets the best of him.
So Ament and the Bucks both know that he still has a lot of work to do before becoming the player he aspires to be, which is why it's so encouraging to see him preparing for his first NBA season by attacking his weaknesses head-on. In new footage posted by Albert Ghim of No Ceilings, who obtained it from NBA trainer Zachary Gonzalez, Ament is seen working tirelessly on his offseason drills (click here to watch).
Ament is seen driving and finishing through contact, navigating coverage from multiple defenders, working on his slashing and ball-handling moves, finishing through contact, attacking from the perimeter and putting up deep three-point jumpers to prepare for NBA action. Ghim wrote that Ament has a tighter handle, added muscle mass, and is putting in the work to improve his jump shot.
For a draft selection who has been somewhat divisive among NBA Draft analysts and Bucks fans alike, Ament is proving that his work ethic and mental approach to the game are exactly what Milwaukee hoped it would be when they took a chance on him at No. 13.
Nate Ament is a work in progress for the Milwaukee Bucks, and there's no better situation for him to unlock his full capabilities.
While some of the individual players are facing some pressure to prove their monetary or no-court value this season, the Milwaukee Bucks as a team have absolutely no pressure entering the 2026-27 NBA season, beyond what pressure the players and coaches put on themselves. This is the first season of the post-Giannis era, and the Bucks don't control their own draft pick, so the upcoming year is all about evaluating talent, resetting the culture, and getting better.
This is the perfect environment for a player like Nate Ament, who will assuredly pop off the screen some nights and fall short of expectations on others. There's a learning curve to NBA basketball, between the speed, physicality, talent, shot clock, coaching, travel, and the list goes on. But no one is asking Nate Ament to figure all that out immediately, giving him the leeway to focus on his craft and channel that competitive desire into functional growth.
That's what makes this offseason workout regimen from Ament so encouraging. He's taking it upon himself to put in the work because he cares deeply about proving his doubters wrong and showing the basketball world what he's capable of on and off the court. And he's only just getting started.
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