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The Milwaukee Bucksintroduced lottery picks Brayden Burries and Nate Ament on June 25 during a media event held at the Pieper-Hillside Boys & Girls Club, 611 W. Cherry St.
Burries, 20, and Ament, 19, were all smiles in their green team polo shirts sandwiched between new coach Taylor Jenkins and general manager Jon Horst.
Horst, making the first lottery (top 14) selections in his nine-year career, went for a two-way, combination guard in Burries out of Arizona and a high upside, lanky forward in Ament out of Tennessee to help Jenkins begin a new era of basketball.
Although the impending trade of star Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami – agreed to on June 22 but not official until at least the start of the new league year July 6 – leaves the roster in some unofficial flux, Jenkins will command a group that suddenly is very young.
“Regardless of where these guys were picked and regardless of their age, it's their internal motivation and drive and characteristics,” Jenkins said of what he thought about taking over in this unique time in franchise history. “When we talk about building our identity, building our culture, these guys truly are competitors. Seen it on the tape, for sure, but spending time with them, that's what they care about.
“Both these guys just said that I'm here to impact winning. That's the thing that excites me, regardless of how old or where we draft them and stuff like that, the first lens that we look at.”
Though Horst said after the first round on June 23 and Jenkins reiterated on June 25 that playing time, let alone a potential starting role, will be earned by the newcomers, they do come in with some expectation. And for their part, Burries and Ament acknowledged there will be some pressure on them as they headline the start of the post-Antetokounmpo era in Milwaukee.
“When the opportunity is given, you just got to take full advantage of it and make the best of the opportunity,” Burries said.
Ament added: “I think we see it as another challenge. And luckily we're not doing it alone. We have a great organization behind us and we have, like [Burries] said, great vets and great players on the team that can help us get to where we want to get to. Like Brayden first said, it's about winning first and foremost and whatever we can do to do that, we're going to do it. So that's just kind of our mentality going into it.”
More roster decisions will be made by June 29, as a handful of player and team options must be decided upon, and then free agency begins. Then, the Antetokounmpo trade will be finalized. So, the final iteration of the 2026-27 Bucks is some time away from being crystallized, but Jenkins said the core of what that time will be was on display with the mindset Burries and Ament bring to the team.
“What matters for them is getting better for the team and impacting winning,” Jenkins said of the two first-round picks. “I’m excited that these guys are coachable too. You know, that makes it a little easier for us and our staff, but just ready to pour into these two amazing human beings, but also amazing basketball players.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks introduce picks Braydon Burries, Nate Ament as new era begins
Continue reading...
Burries, 20, and Ament, 19, were all smiles in their green team polo shirts sandwiched between new coach Taylor Jenkins and general manager Jon Horst.
Horst, making the first lottery (top 14) selections in his nine-year career, went for a two-way, combination guard in Burries out of Arizona and a high upside, lanky forward in Ament out of Tennessee to help Jenkins begin a new era of basketball.
Although the impending trade of star Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami – agreed to on June 22 but not official until at least the start of the new league year July 6 – leaves the roster in some unofficial flux, Jenkins will command a group that suddenly is very young.
“Regardless of where these guys were picked and regardless of their age, it's their internal motivation and drive and characteristics,” Jenkins said of what he thought about taking over in this unique time in franchise history. “When we talk about building our identity, building our culture, these guys truly are competitors. Seen it on the tape, for sure, but spending time with them, that's what they care about.
“Both these guys just said that I'm here to impact winning. That's the thing that excites me, regardless of how old or where we draft them and stuff like that, the first lens that we look at.”
Though Horst said after the first round on June 23 and Jenkins reiterated on June 25 that playing time, let alone a potential starting role, will be earned by the newcomers, they do come in with some expectation. And for their part, Burries and Ament acknowledged there will be some pressure on them as they headline the start of the post-Antetokounmpo era in Milwaukee.
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“When the opportunity is given, you just got to take full advantage of it and make the best of the opportunity,” Burries said.
Ament added: “I think we see it as another challenge. And luckily we're not doing it alone. We have a great organization behind us and we have, like [Burries] said, great vets and great players on the team that can help us get to where we want to get to. Like Brayden first said, it's about winning first and foremost and whatever we can do to do that, we're going to do it. So that's just kind of our mentality going into it.”
More roster decisions will be made by June 29, as a handful of player and team options must be decided upon, and then free agency begins. Then, the Antetokounmpo trade will be finalized. So, the final iteration of the 2026-27 Bucks is some time away from being crystallized, but Jenkins said the core of what that time will be was on display with the mindset Burries and Ament bring to the team.
“What matters for them is getting better for the team and impacting winning,” Jenkins said of the two first-round picks. “I’m excited that these guys are coachable too. You know, that makes it a little easier for us and our staff, but just ready to pour into these two amazing human beings, but also amazing basketball players.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks introduce picks Braydon Burries, Nate Ament as new era begins
Continue reading...
