The Milwaukee Bucks may be about to crowd the forward picture even more, and if that happens, Nate Ament’s path to real minutes gets even narrower.
According to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, Milwaukee has explored taking in Zeke Nnaji as part of a Peyton Watson sign-and-trade. If the Bucks land both forwards, Ament would slide further down the depth chart after already looking like a long shot for a major role this season.
That was the expectation when Milwaukee took Ament 13th overall in this past draft. At 19, he was always viewed as a work in progress, someone who would need time before earning steady NBA minutes. Right now, the most likely setup has him spending a meaningful stretch with the Wisconsin Herd while getting occasional call-ups with the Bucks.
More forward depth would only reinforce that plan. And for Ament, that might not be a bad thing. A clear runway in the G League would give him the kind of reps and development time young players need before they’re asked to handle the NBA grind.
Milwaukee’s interest in Watson makes the bigger picture pretty obvious: this is a team trying to win now. Watson would be the headliner, a real starting-level option who fits the Bucks’ youth push.
Nnaji would come in as the contract piece, with Denver looking to move off the remaining years of his deal. Even so, he’s still only 25 and could give Milwaukee useful depth at power forward.
That spot is the clearest weak point on the roster. Right now, the Bucks’ power forward group includes Ament, Kyle Kuzma, Pete Nance, and Bogoljub Markovic. Adding Watson and Nnaji would go a long way toward fixing that.
Whether the deal actually gets done is still up in the air, but Milwaukee’s willingness to take on Nnaji says plenty about how serious it is about reshaping the roster.
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