2015 BSotS NBA Draft Profile: Can Wisconsin's Sam Dekker make enough shots to be a star?

We continue our draft prospect previews with a look a swing forward Sam Dekker.

Sam Dekker physical profile

• 6'9" in shoes, which is important because they don't play in socks
• 219 pounds, which is important because he'd be heavier than most of the Suns roster
• 6'11.5" wingspan, making him wingier than all but Alex Len among guys under contract and that helps defending the perimeter
• 8'10" standing reach, a good sign because you don't rebound with your head. Dekker's standing reach compares favorably to anyone on the Suns not named Len
• 34.5" max vert, which helps grabbing rebounding and dunking

Sam Dekker notable stats

• 0.9 TOs per game, meaning he doesn't cough up the ball
• 1.2 Assists per game, meaning he really really doesn't cough up the ball. I mean, ever.
• 33% 3-point shooting, 70.8% FT shooting, which does not adumbrate auspiciously to helping the Suns shooting woes
• 63.9% 2-point shooting, indicating he's good inside the three point line
• 5.6 rebounds per game from the SF spot, meaning he's not a bad rebounder

Sam's strengths

Highly efficient. He doesn't pass and he doesn't turn the ball over. When you give him the ball he's either going to take a hero shot behind the arc or drive to the rim. The latter is the better option for him. His offensive profile looks a lot like a less-prolific T.J. Warren in that he scores most of his points inside the three-point line.

He does, however, have a penchant for hero ball. He's made game winning threes to win a championship as a high schooler, and then shot lights-out in the NCAA tournament before the final game. And with his jumper, he's got a very high release point so he's unlikely to get his shot blocked or even be deterred from taking one from the outside no matter how tight the defense.

Overall, Sam has the game and the build to play both forward positions effectively on offense and defense. He's got very good lateral movement and length to be a trustworthy defender at either spot. If he could develop a more consistent outside shot, he could become a stretch four in today's NBA.

Sam's weaknesses

He just doesn't shoot consistently well enough, or pass the ball well enough, to be more than a role player in the NBA who's reliant on getting iso situations and spot-up threes. That, to me, sounds a lot like the rest of the Suns roster.

Otherwise, Sam doesn't have many weaknesses.

Summary

He just doesn't bring anything unique to the Suns roster. The Suns already have guys who can break others down off the dribble to create a driving shot but don't have the vision to find the open man when he's covered.

Defensively, he'd be an upgrade over the Morrii, though. So if you want a younger, more athletic Morrii then Sam is probably a good bet.

But unless you get rid of at least two of Marcus Morris, P.J. Tucker and T.J. Warren, there's no room at the SF spot. He could play backup PF, but these three already do that too.

Not convinced of my scouting abilities?

Good, because neither am I.

Watch the great Mike Schmitz break down Sam Dekker here for DX.

Let's look at his strengths...

And then his weaknesses..

Conclusion

There's better options on the board at 13, but if he unexpectedly falls into the 20s and the Suns have traded down (or back into the draft), then he would be steal down there.