From being that skinny kid from Sheboygan on SportsCenter, to ascending to an NCAA Tournament hero, to garnering a first-round pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Sam Dekker has been all around the basketball world.
The next stop? Houston. The Rockets drafted Dekker with the No. 18 selection Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., taking him off the board just nine spots behind former Badger teammate Frank Kaminsky.
While Dekker’s draft projections spanned a wide range of the first round, the fact that he landed with the Houston Rockets should come as a relief for the versatile forward. After finishing with a 50-32 record last season and bowing out to eventual NBA Finals champion Golden State in the Western Conference Finals, the Rockets' reloading process is bolstered by Dekker’s arrival.
Alongside the nucleus of James Harden, Dwight Howard and Trevor Ariza, Dekker should have an immediate impact in Houston. In need of a consistently reliable secondary scoring option behind Harden, the Rockets will lean on Dekker's lethal offensive ability he flashed throughout his tenure at Wisconsin.
Dekker’s NBA draft prospects blossomed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament. After dropping 20 points against Coastal Carolina and 17 in Wisconsin’s second-round win over Oregon, Dekker exploded in the Sweet Sixteen matchup with North Carolina. He paced the Badgers with 23 points and 10 rebounds, all through the suffocating gauntlet of the lengthy Tar Heel defense. With 15 of his points coming in the first half, Dekker kept the Badgers within striking distance at the midway point, paving the way for teammate Frank Kaminsky to take over and seal the win.
As if a career-high scoring output against UNC just wasn’t enough, Dekker followed suit with a ridiculous performance two nights later against Arizona to power Wisconsin to the Final Four. Shooting 5-6 from 3-point range, including possibly the signature shot of his college career, Dekker showed the Wildcats the door in the Elite Eight for the second year in a row.
Dekker then canned a 3-pointer with 1:42 remaining against Kentucky to give Wisconsin a lead it did not relinquish to the previously unbeaten Wildcats in a rematch of 2014’s Final Four showdown.
While he struggled against Duke in the national title game, going 0-6 from deep and chipping in 12 points, Dekker’s March Madness legacy, validated by the NCAA West Region’s Most Outstanding Player award, had already made its mark. Departing Wisconsin for the draft after his junior season was the natural decision.
Dekker’s solid defensive ability afforded by his six-foot, nine-inch frame and flexibility on offense should get him far at the next level. While his shooting can be streaky and his strength could be an issue initially, he’ll improve on those facets of his game, if history is any indication.
His considerable strides from year-to-year indicate that Dekker is likely close, but has not quite reached his full potential. With any young player making the transition from the collegiate to the professional level, Dekker’s entrance into the NBA will be checkered with equal parts failure and success. But given his track record, Dekker seems primed to gradually establish himself as a force with the Houston Rockets.
