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The most recent player to join the Washington Wizards is Sam Dekker.

Sam is 24. He was the #18 pick in the 2015 draft. As of this writing, he's played just over 2500 minutes in his 3.3 NBA seasons. Most of that PT was for Houston in hihttps://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewforum.php?f=35s second year (1400+ minutes)

He was traded to the Clippers as part of the deal in which Houston acquired Chris Paul. Sam played under 900 minutes for them last year.

In August of this year, the Clippers sent him to Cleveland. They got nothing in return, but there was not going to be a roster spot for Sam, & the deal let them shed his guaranteed salary. Sam only played 169 minutes for Cleveland this year before the deal last week that brought him to us via Milwaukee for Jason Smith (& the usual R2 pick!).

Although I doubt Ernie made this trade in order to acquire Dekker (it was to lower salary & help get us out of the cap, which it did), in fact Sam Dekker is by far a better player than Jason Smith. He has some promise.

The biggest problem Sam presents is that you don't want to play him at the 4. He doesn't rebound near well enough. So, the question is whether you can play him at the 3. If so, great. If not, he isn't going to help you.

Otherwise Dekker's only real shortcoming as a player is that he doesn't shoot the 3 well.

He shoots 29% from 3 and 62% from the FT line...

PIF,
I dont buy the rebounding as a real weakness. He rebounds as well as Thaddeus Young, Otto, Olynyk, etc. He rebounds just fine for a 4 in the modern NBA and has zero problem guarding 4's.
He has a little Thaddeus Young/Max Kleber type game where he will outwork you and hit the occasional 3, but scores at the rim with ease it seems.
He doesnt foul or turn it over. He can defend positions and gets easy buckets with hustle plays (Offensive rebounds, cuts, transition offense)
He is a better player than Oubre and will probably make 1/3rd of his contract, if not less...

The puzzling thing with Dekker is his shooting - he has a slingshot looking jumper that was considered boom or bust coming out of Wisconsin.

I remember him being able to shoot his rookie year with Houston, but if his 3pt shot never recovers it's hard to see much of a future for him. That said, he very well could be a more useful player than Oubre right now. In fact I'm pretty sure he is.

If Ian Mahimi can learn to shoot 3s, I have some optimism that Dekker can turn it around. I also don't know his rebounding will be as problematic with NBA 4s getting smaller. There aren't too many physically intimidating 4s in the east...Griffin? Maybe Collins in Atlanta, Gordon...and uhhh...thats it? Giannis I guess if you count him as a 4, Simmons too.

What he seems to do well is not pound the rock. His moves have looked purposeful thus far...and he PASSES (Praise the basketball gods). If he can become a 35-36% 3 pt shooter he can become an asset. His defense is going to be curious. Oubre wasn't a good team defender, so hopefully this is a spot Dekker can at least improve a little on.

nuposse04 wrote:If Ian Mahimi can learn to shoot 3s, I have some optimism that Dekker can turn it around. I also don't know his rebounding will be as problematic with NBA 4s getting smaller. There aren't too many physically intimidating 4s in the east...Griffin? Maybe Collins in Atlanta, Gordon...and uhhh...thats it? Giannis I guess if you count him as a 4, Simmons too.

What he seems to do well is not pound the rock. His moves have looked purposeful thus far...and he PASSES (Praise the basketball gods). If he can become a 35-36% 3 pt shooter he can become an asset. His defense is going to be curious. Oubre wasn't a good team defender, so hopefully this is a spot Dekker can at least improve a little on.

He just need playing time and develop that 3 point bomb. he will start knocking them down some point.

This boy good! See those cuts and dunks?

nuposse04 wrote:If Ian Mahimi can learn to shoot 3s,...

Not sure if serious

Donkey McDonkerton wrote:This boy good! See those cuts and dunks?

let's bring him back? lol

Donkey McDonkerton wrote:This boy good! See those cuts and dunks?

Ernie drafted him before Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, and Jimmy Butler were drafted. He must be good. Right?



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He was 18th pick in the 2015 draft - we had 19th pick. Ernie basically paid our 1st, 2016 2nd, 2019 2nd and 2022 2nd to move up one (1) spot in the draft! What a mastermind.

Dekker played surprisingly well yesterday but it's just one game. Let's hope he keeps up the good work!

Eli Babak wrote:He was 18th pick in the 2015 draft - we had 19th pick. Ernie basically paid our 1st, 2016 2nd, 2019 2nd and 2022 2nd to move up one (1) spot in the draft! What a mastermind.

Dekker played surprisingly well yesterday but it's just one game. Let's hope he keeps up the good work!

He'sgoing be very valuable off the bench. He plays hard and players like him can make a impact with his activity's.

penbeast0 wrote:

nuposse04 wrote:If Ian Mahimi can learn to shoot 3s,...

Not sure if serious

I mean, they don't look awful coming out of his hand. The Ariza Comp might be better. He was a guy who wasn't particularly good at 3s for a while in the NBA. Of course Dekker is no where near the defender Ariza was in his younger days.

Who was Wall's shooting coach? Didn't we bring a guy in, or was he part of Whitman's crew? Get him back in.

Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin tonight.

long suffrin' boulez fan wrote:Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin tonight.

Tweener end-of-bencher, he doesn't have the muscle to do any inside work

long suffrin' boulez fan wrote:Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin tonight.

Pretty sure he is married to Cinderella, tho.

Jamaaliver wrote:

long suffrin' boulez fan wrote:Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin tonight.

Pretty sure he is married to Cinderella, tho.

Spoiler:

My goodness!

That looks more like Elsa

Jamaaliver wrote:

long suffrin' boulez fan wrote:Cinderella’s carriage turned back into a pumpkin tonight.

Pretty sure he is married to Cinderella, tho.

Spoiler:

My goodness!

In the words of the immortal Hands... Dame!

truwizfan4evr wrote:

Eli Babak wrote:Dekker played surprisingly well yesterday but it's just one game. Let's hope he keeps up the good work!

He's going be very valuable off the bench. He plays hard and players like him can make a impact with his activity's.

The Wizards have declined to give Sam Dekker a qualifying offer, even though he averaged 29 points & 16 boards per 36 minutes.

I fear we may lose him. Your thoughts?