Sam Dekker Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Salary Tiers, Deng, Jackson

April 13th, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The maximum salary tiers will rise dramatically over the next two years when the league’s new TV contract takes effect, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reports. Currently, players with up to six years of experience can receive a maximum of $14.7MM in the first year of a contract, $17.7MM if they have seven to nine years of experience and $20.6MM if they have at least 10 years of experience. By the 2016/17 season, those maximum salary tiers will rise to approximately $21.0MM, $25.3MM and $29.5MM, Pincus calculates. That will encourage free agents this summer to sign contracts with an opt-out clause for the second year, allowing them to take advantage of the bump in salaries, Pincus continues. LaMarcus Aldridge, Rajon Rondo and Paul Millsap are some of the free agents this summer who could elevate into the top tier in salary in 2016/17 by signing one-year contracts or contracts with an opt-out clause, Pincus adds.

In other news around the league:

Draft prospects Montrezl Harrell of Louisville and Trey Lyles of Kentucky have signed with LeBron James‘ agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Sam Dekker of Wisconsin has chosen Mark Bartelstein and Priority Sports to represent him, according to Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. (Twitter link). Chad Ford of ESPN.com has all three rated as first-round prospects, with Dekker ranked No. 15 overall, Lyles at No. 17 and Harrell at No. 24. Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress also has all three among his first-round prospects, with Dekker 15th overall, Lyles 19th and Harrell 23rd.
Luol Deng has not yet decided whether he will exercise his player option of approximately $10.15MM for next season, Jason Lieser of Palm Beach Post tweets. The Heat forward is optimistic about the team’s future and has enjoyed playing for the organization this season, Lieser adds.
Pierre Jackson, who ruptured his right Achilles’ tendon playing for the Sixers’ summer-league team last year, has been cleared to resume all basketball activities, according to Spears (Twitter link). Jackson was part of the Nerlens Noel trade between Philadelphia and the Pelicans after the Sixers selected him in the second round in 2013. New Orleans traded Jackson back to the Sixers last year in exchange for Russ Smith‘s draft rights. Jackson is a free agent after the Sixers waived him in September.

Sam Dekker To Enter Draft

April 10th, 2015 at 10:40am CST by Chuck Myron

Wisconsin junior small forward Sam Dekker has told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com that he will enter the draft. Dekker is up to No. 15 in the rankings that Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress compiles and No. 15 with fellow ESPN scribe Chad Ford. No player had helped his draft stock as much during the first two weeks of the NCAA Tournament as Dekker did, Ford wrote at the time.

The 6’9″ 20-year-old’s numbers dropped off a bit in the national semifinals and the championship game, but it was nonetheless clear as Wisconsin made a strong bid for the title that Dekker has plenty of talent. He rose from a player expected to go in the final 10 picks of the first round to the 10-20 range, Goodman tweets. Dekker put up 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per game for the season, but he averaged 19.2 PPG for the tournament as he nailed 15 of 26 three-point attempts, much greater than his 33.1% accuracy on three-pointers for the season.

It wouldn’t be altogether shocking for his stock to cool a bit once he goes through workouts and the memory of his tournament run fades, though that’s just my speculation. Still, it’s not as if Dekker’s stock is reaching unprecedented heights, since Givony had him at No. 11 before the season. He was the 19th-best recruit coming out of high school three years ago, according to the Recruiting Services Consensus Index.

And-Ones: Rubio, Winslow, Cuba

April 6th, 2015 at 10:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio might not play for the Spanish National Team at the European Championships in September, Kent Youngblood of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Rubio’s NBA season has been marred by a left ankle injury that limited him to 22 games before he was declared out for the season by Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders over the weekend. Rubio is more concerned with being 100% for training camp than the European championships, Youngblood adds. “Of course the priority this summer is my health,” he said to Youngblood. “I haven’t been healthy, and I owe this team a lot. In four years, I have one good season, an 82-game season.”

Duke freshman Justise Winslow is a better NBA prospect than Wisconsin junior Sam Dekker, Chad Ford of ESPN.com opines in a debate with fellow draft expert Kevin Pelton. Ford has Winslow rated No. 6 on his draft board with Dekker also sneaking into the lottery at No. 13. Winslow’s superior athletic ability and high motor make him the better prospect, Ford argues. Pelton feels both players are somewhat overrated but also has Winslow as the better prospect, despite wild swings in his performance over the course of the season.
The NBA is poised to become the first U.S. professional sports league to visit Cuba since President Barack Obama ordered diplomatic relations between the countries to be restored, Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press reports. The league will hold a three-day development camp and host youth clinics in Cuba next month, according to Mahoney. The NBA and FIBA, basketball’s world governing body, will also invite two players and one coach from Cuba to participate in an upcoming Basketball without Borders camp.
Armon Johnson has signed with the Spurs’ D-League affiliate, the Austin Spurs, for the league playoffs, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian tweets. Johnson, a point guard, played a combined 39 games for the Trail Blazers during the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons and also appeared in eight games with the Nets during the 2011/12 campaign.

And-Ones: Cavs, Stephenson, Payne, Dekker

March 31st, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

J.R. Smith, and not Iman Shumpert, was the player whom LeBron James most wanted the Cavs to obtain from the Knicks, according to Brian WIndhorst of ESPN.com (audio link), who spoke on the B.S. Report podcast with Grantland’s Bill Simmons, as RealGM transcribes. Of course, Cleveland traded for both in the January deal that sent out Dion Waiters.

“He [James] is so excited about the talent on this team,” Windhorst said. “He loves playing with [Timofey] Mozgov. He loves Smith. He was the guy who pushed for that trade. The Cavs were trying to get Iman Shumpert; that’s what the conversations were and of course the Knicks were saying ‘We’ll give you Shumpert, but you have to take J.R.’ They went to LeBron and he said ‘No, you get J.R. and if you get Shumpert with him that’s great.’ He, I think, really loves their top seven.”

Here’s more from around the league:

Lance Stephenson says that despite his struggles during his first season in Charlotte, he doesn’t regret signing with the Hornets, Steve Reed of The Associated Press writes. “I love this system. I love my coaches. I love my teammates,” Stephenson said. “Some people come into systems and fit right in. Some people it takes time. I feel like with me I’m going to take time.” In 58 appearances this season Stephenson has averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 26.4 minutes per night.
Murray State sophomore guard Cameron Payne is leaning toward entering this year’s draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Payne averaged 20.2 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 37.7% from three-point range this season. The 20-year-old is ranked No. 23 by Chad Ford of ESPN.com and No. 32 by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.
New No. 1 prospect Karl-Anthony Towns, Justise Winslow, Frank Kaminsky and Jerian Grant are among those who helped themselves during the second week of the NCAA Tournament, according to Ford, who writes in an Insider-only piece. Still, no prospect has boosted his stock more during the tournament than Sam Dekker, whom Ford believes has risen into the back end of the top 20 prospects.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Faried, Draft, Gay

April 6th, 2014 at 12:24pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Kenneth Faried is headed toward the final year of his rookie-scale contract and will be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2015. Re-signing him to an extension this summer will certainly cost the Nuggets, but figuring out what he’s worth is the harder question, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The article analyzes what the top power forwards are paid, and Faried’s financial place amongst them. In 74 games this season, Faried has averaged 13.2 PPG, 8.2 RPG, and 1.2 APG in 26.6 minutes per contest.

Draft Notes: Dekker, Daniels, Kaminsky

April 6th, 2014 at 8:39am CST by Eddie Scarito

Wisconsin lost a nail-biter to Kentucky last night. After the game, both Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky stated they would be returning to the Badgers next season, writes Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. Dekker, who averaged 12.4 PPG and 6.1 RPG was rated a potential first round selection. The 7-foot Kaminsky averaged a team-high 14.1 PPG and 6.4 RPG. He is viewed as a second rounder by scouts.