MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks lottery picks Brayden Burries and Nate Ament got their first bit of tough love from their new coach well before discovering they’d be playing for him.
During their introductory news conference Thursday, Ament discussed a predraft meeting with Taylor Jenkins in which the new Bucks coach went over the Tennessee forward’s five worst plays in college.
“He did the same thing with me,” said Burries, a 6-foot-4 guard from Arizona.
Burries and Ament can look forward to many more of those types of sessions as the Bucks count on them to fill vital roles in their rebuilding process now that two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is heading out of town.
Jenkins believes they’re up for the challenge. Jenkins praised their competitiveness and unselfishness Thursday while noting that the 20-year-old Burries and 19-year-old Ament have plenty of untapped potential.
“They’ve got room to grow,” Jenkins said. “I’m going to remind them of that. We can all get better, for sure.”
Milwaukee’s selections of Burries with the draft’s 10th pick and Ament at No. 13 were the first moves the Bucks made after agreeing to trade Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat.
The No. 13 pick that the Bucks used on Ament was part of the package they got in return. The Bucks also are getting Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis, a first-round pick swap in 2030, first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 and a 2033 second-rounder in exchange for Antetokounmpo and forward Bobby Portis.
The progress of Burries and Ament is pivotal to the rebuilding process of a franchise that hasn’t gotten much production from the draft since striking gold by taking Antetokounmpo with the 15th pick in 2013.
For example, the Bucks kept only two first-round picks beyond draft night from 2019-25 and used them on MarJon Beauchamp (2022) and A.J. Johnson (2024). Beauchamp couldn’t get consistent minutes in 2 ½ seasons with the Bucks. Johnson was sent to Washington his rookie year as part of the Khris Middleton-Kyle Kuzma trade.
Burries and Ament are Milwaukee’s first two top-15 selections since 2016, when they took Thon Maker at No. 10. These two picks are particularly important because the Bucks currently don’t have any first-round selections in 2027 or 2029.
The Bucks believe these two rookies are up to the challenge.
“They fit as people,” general manager Jon Horst said. “I think you can see the synergy here already. There’s a consistent theme in what we’ve targeted — the competitiveness, the character, the IQ of an athlete.”
They nearly ended up playing together in college. Burries made an official visit to Tennessee during the recruiting process and said he liked Volunteers coach Rick Barnes.
“I just went back and I just thought Arizona was the place to be,” Burries said. “Right before I was going to commit, like the week before, Nate and his people were trying to contact us and see what we were thinking.”
Burries has the type of game that could help him contribute immediately. He’s a quality defender who averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists while helping Arizona reach its first Final Four in 25 years. He shot 39.1% from 3-point range.
“What I love about Brayden is his ability to impact on both sides of the floor,” Jenkins said. “This guy wants to be a point of the attack defender. He wants to be a team defender. It’s infections. He’s got this calmness about him that you’ll see, but when he gets into the lines of competition, this guy fires up.”
Ament will need time to develop and add strength to his 6-10, 211-pound frame, but he might have the greater upside of the two lottery picks. He averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists, though he dealt with an ankle injury late in the season.
He’s eager to get to work. Looking back on that predraft meeting with Jenkins, Ament believes he has a coach who will get the best out of him.
“I just want to surround myself with people who are basketball junkies and want to stay in the gym and want to get better every day,” Ament said. “I think I found that in coach Jenkins.”
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