All Nate Ament and Brayden Burries are tasked with, as the two new lottery picks for the Milwaukee Bucks, are trying to replace Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Ament, who was picked at No. 13 overall in the NBA Draft last week, was the first of three picks acquired when the Bucks and Miami Heat agreed to a trade that sent Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to South Beach in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis, along with the picks.
Burries, the No. 10 overall pick, averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists during his one-and-done stop at Arizona. Ament starred in his one season at Tennessee, averaging 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while playing 29.7 minutes per game.
‘If anything, I see it as an opportunity and not pressure’
Ament said after the draft that he wasn’t feeling any “extra pressure” after being picked by Milwaukee a day after the blockbuster move.
“Obviously we’re stepping in — luckily I’m not going at it alone,” Ament said. “I have got another top-10 draft pick, Brayden Burries. He’s a tremendous player, and I’m excited to get to learn with him.”
Antetokounmpo, the No. 15 overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, led the Bucks to the NBA championship in 2021 and was named Finals MVP. He was the league’s most valuable player in both 2019 and 2020, was a 10-time all star and seven-time All-NBA First Team.
“Yeah,” Ament admitted, “they are big shoes to fill over there in Milwaukee, and I think that it’s just a tremendous opportunity for me and Brayden. If anything, I see it as an opportunity and not pressure.”
Ament at No. 13 overall is the highest of 13 NBA Draft picks during the Rick Barnes era and is the highest Tennessee player picked in the draft since Marcus Haislip also went No. 13 to the Bucks in the 2002 NBA Draft.
Tennessee had three players picked in 2026 NBA Draft
Tennessee point guard Ja’Kobi Gillespie was the No. 42 overall pick, selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round on Wednesday, and center Felix Okpara was the No. 46 overall pick to the Washington Wizards.
“You go back to a year ago and look at the analytical side of what we do,” Barnes said on Thursday, “those three guys put in more work than anybody in terms of the distance they ran, the reps they put in. And it’s always great when you see guys getting rewarded for their hard work. And obviously all of they meant so much to our program and had so much to do with our success.
“We’re just proud of them. And I think they’re just getting started in what their journey through professional basketball. It was a fun couple days.”
Like this story0Share article