(05-30-2026, 02:01 PM)vfromlmf Wrote: I think he's a lot better than those numbers and if he returned for another college season he'd be the number one pick in '27.
People talk about context a lot and he was sort of given the Cooper Flagg treatment early on. In high school he was a skinny perimeter-oriented prospect who relied heavily on his outside shot and rarely played through contact. At Tennessee, his role was drastically altered to force him out of his comfort zone. The coaching staff tasked him with putting pressure on the rim, drawing fouls, and acting as a primary driver. He also gained 26 pounds of muscle at Tennessee on a 5000 calorie per day diet which is insane -- and he's still growing.
Ament is physical, draws fouls, and despite what you said he is a good defender with the length to become elite.
If you judged Cooper Flagg based on his first 10-15 NBA games you'd really miss the boat on your eval. Same with Ament. He's not Flagg (obviously) but he showed tremendous growth until he got hurt. And he played hurt in the NCAA tournament. That's toughness. I don't see any reason to believe the good stretch was a fluke and no reason why he won't continue to develop in the NBA into an All-Star caliber player.
I'm not sure comparing 15% of Flagg rookie season and Ament's entire freshman season is appropriate. My question was based on legit curiosity. I wonder what the history is with guys like this? I may tend to overrate on court performance over projection, but according to that PRISIM article by Nate Silver it seems that the NBA tends to rely too much on projection.