Why Wisconsin's Sam Dekker Will Be an NBA Draft Lottery Pick in 2015

Wisconsin's Sam Dekker has been on NBA scouts' radars since he arrived at Madison, but a mediocre sophomore campaign caused a drop in his draft stock.

Now projected as the No. 16 pick by ESPN’s Chad Ford and the No. 23 pick by NBADraft.net, Dekker has a chance to redeem himself with a breakout season in order to jump back into the lottery picks conversation.

Dekker came up a bit short of expectations in the 2013-14 season as a sophomore after being named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team the year before.

He started in all 38 games for a Badgers team that went to the Final Four in 2014, but he did not drastically improve the numbers he put up as a freshman.

His 12.4 points per game were barely three points higher than his first year, and his field-goal, three-point and free-throw percentages all decreased as well.

However, the season also saw Dekker show off his size and athleticism, as well as his ability to rebound.

Dekker’s 6.1 boards per game nearly doubled his average as a freshman (3.4 RPG). His 166 defensive rebounds were the most on the team, and his 65 offensive rebounds trailed only Frank Kaminsky’s 81.

Dekker decided to return to the Badgers for his junior year, and there is reason to believe these numbers will improve in 2014-15, thanks to a growth spurt over the summer. 

For the first two seasons in Wisconsin, Dekker had been listed at 6’7”, but that number increased by two inches when Dekker was measured again at the LeBron James Skills Academy this July.

The added height clearly helped Dekker’s game, especially with him playing at the small forward position. ESPN’s Jay Bilas called him the “best player at this year’s Nike Skills Academy.”

Bilas added: “From the first day, he was aggressive and versatile and showed a skill level that few could match. He played very effectively on the perimeter, moved without the ball and did a great job.”

Fellow ESPN analysts Jeff Goodman and Fran Fraschilla shared Bilas’ sentiment:

CBSSports.com’s Jeff Borzello even recounted the two times Dekker got the best of camp host himself.

“Dekker beat LeBron twice for layups, cutting backdoor both times to get open and finish at the rim,” Borzello wrote.

Dekker is also a very intelligent basketball player. Over his first two years with the Badgers, he committed only 1.1 turnovers and 1.3 fouls per game. However, that is not to say he doesn’t have any room left to improve.

One of the most important areas he needs work on is getting his shooting touch back.

After shooting 47.6 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from beyond the arc and 69 percent from the line as a freshman, Dekker saw those numbers drop to 46.9 percent, 32.6 percent and 68.6 percent, respectively.

Dekker also needs to find better ways to create his own shots, especially in isolation situations, to assert himself in Bo Ryan’s offense in order to show off his improved skills.

As long as the Sam Dekker of the 2014 summer continues to show up for the Badgers this upcoming season, his draft stock will continue to rise.

Statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com/CBB unless otherwise noted.