Some, such as ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel, have recently gone on record noting that the OKC Thunder are believed to be "high" on the idea of snatching up Tennessee's Nate Ament with their 12 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
However, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report seems to think this could be a match made in hell for both parties.
In a recent piece penned by the long-time NBA columnist, Oklahoma City was branded as being the "worst fit" for the young wing, considering the fact that he believes the prospect will require "legitimate floor time" in order to properly develop at the next level, and the already stacked, win-now Thunder certainly don't seem set up to offer him such a luxury.
Regularly, Ament is seen being selected in the mid-to-late lottery in most mock drafts. The Athletic's Sam Vecenie actually just recently had him heading to the Thunder at 12 overall in his June 9 mock-up.
Though the allure of adding a high-upside, young scoring weapon to their arsenal in this year's draft may seem like an exciting move to make, Ament is believed to be far too raw for the title-hungry Thunder to realistically consider.
Nate Ament may be too much of a work-in-progress for Thunder
It goes without saying that the 19-year-old proved himself to be a tremendous offensive-minded prospect during his one-and-done season with the Volunteers.
At 6-foot-10, the swingman showed off his top-flight potential to buy a bucket in virtually every way possible, averaging an impressive 16.9 points in 2025-26, adding on 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game along the way.
However, even with these flashes, Buckley is far from convinced Ament is a ready-made pro at this point, and, in turn, will need time to hone his craft in the NBA upon his arrival.
When taking into account his lacking strength and inconsistent shooting stroke (shot 39.9 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from deep this past year), it's hard to argue with such logic.
Despite what Siegel claims sources are telling him, signs seem to suggest Sam Presti and company aren't really all that interested in bringing on a raw scoring prospect, but, rather, a nitty-gritty, frontcourt enforcer as made evident by the club's recently held pre-draft workouts with Yaxel Lendeborg, Zuby Ejiofor, and Graham Ike.
This, coupled with the fact that there's a growing belief that the Thunder may have somewhat of a "Victor Wembanyama problem" on their hands, makes it seem only logical that, even if OKC is high on his potential, they'll steer clear of Ament on draft night and go for size and defense instead.
That is, of course, if they don't trade out from this year's class entirely first.
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