Sam Dekker
At No. 15 on ESPN’s Chad Ford’s Big Board, Dekker is a legitimate option for the Suns with their first round pick. A 6’9″ forward for the Badgers, Dekker came to life near the end of the season, knocking down quite a few clutch shots to help Wisconsin reach the NCAA title game.
Dekker went 6-for-15 from the floor in that game (0-for-6 from three-point range), but he still averaged 19.2 points per game on 41.7 percent shooting from downtown in the tournament.
His clutch play and vastly improved three-point shooting during March Madness boosted his draft stock, but many teams are still wondering whether it was just a few good weeks that Dekker put together or a sign of things to come.
Sir Charles In Charge
“He really elevated his game, elevated his play and there’s no question he helped himself as far as stock going into the tournament,” Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said. “He was a first round candidate one way or another, but I think his performance in the last five or six games of the year in the tournament certainly helped.”
Dekker said he’s glad if his strong play in the tournament boosted his stock, but that he doesn’t really pay too much attention to that kind of chatter.
“People can put down names into a numbered slot whenever they want, so I don’t pay too much attention to that,” he said. “There’s more that goes on than the outside knows.”
One thing that everyone does know is that Dekker, for all his extraordinary performances in the tournament, needs to work on making his three-point shot a little more consistent at the next level. He shot just under 35 percent from downtown in his three years at Wisconsin, but this season, he made only 33.1 percent of his three-point attempts.
McDonough believes his perimeter shot will improve with enough work, since Dekker’s size and his high release will allow him to get his shot off at the next level.
“We obviously project some improvement for a guy his age, he’s going to put the work in and the time in and he doesn’t have anything fundamentally wrong with his shot,” he said. “He’s big enough to be a shooter, he’s strong enough to be a shooter, he’ll be able to get it off against most defenders, he has the ability to handle the ball and attack a defender off the dribble.”
Dekker’s perimeter shot may still need work, but he’s a great theoretical fit for a Suns team that likes to push the tempo and score in transition.
“We like his versatility, he’s able to step out to the three-point line and knock down shots behind the line, but he’s also able to catch swing passes and attack closeouts and get all the way to the basket and finish,” McDonough said. “Today he showed some nice things in transition, he’s a pretty fluid athlete, sometimes you don’t realize quite how big he is until you see him go finish and dunk pretty easily on the break.”
“That’s something I like to do, getting out in the open court and using my athleticism, just putting the defense on their heels,” Dekker said. “That’s something I’ve been able to do well throughout the course of my career, hopefully I can continue that.”
Between his explosive athleticism, his solid ball handling skills and his ability to create off the bounce, Dekker’s three-point shot and his status as an NBA “tweener” are really the biggest question marks. But McDonough believes Dekker will be able to guard power forwards as the league continues to get smaller.
“I think he’ll be able to defend fours, the league is going more and more position-less, the four position is getting smaller at times, he said. “So if he adds some strength — which he will in the NBA program because he’s got the body and frame to do it — I think he’ll be able to guard most fours.”
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