The Milwaukee Bucks will once again have to try to catch up with their fierce rival from the Eastern Conference in their quest to return to the top of the Eastern Conference. On Monday night, former Bucks guard Jrue Holiday and the Boston Celtics completed their NBA Finals series against former Bucks head coach Jason Kidd in the 2024 NBA Finals. Heading into next season, Milwaukee will be chasing Boston while trying to maintain its lead over the rest of the conference’s top teams.
One such team is the Philadelphia 76ers, who finished the year with a disappointing 47-35 record and seventh place in the conference. With superstar Joel Embiid under contract, the 76ers, like the Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, are looking to add the right pieces to take advantage of the NBA Championship window.
The Philadelphia 76ers are training with former Wisconsin Badgers star Sam Dekker
According to NBC’s John Clark, the 76ers are working on a player very familiar to Bucks fans in Wisconsin: former Badgers star Sam Dekker.
I’m told the Sixers have held workouts and tryouts for Daryl Morey’s former first-round draft pick in Houston, Sam Dekker pic.twitter.com/hQYEdizxLr
— John Clark (@JClarkNBC) June 18, 2024
Dekker, of course, was on the Wisconsin team that made back-to-back Final Four appearances and the one that lost to Duke in the 2015 NCAA National Championship.
After declaring for the NBA draft, Dekker was selected in the first round of the draft by the Houston Rockets, whose general manager at the time was Daryl Morey. Morey currently heads the Philadelphia office.
Dekker has just completed his second season with the London Lions, which saw him win the British Basketball League. The former Badgers star averaged 12.3 points, shooting 40% from three.
Sam Dekker’s tiny NBA career included a very brief stint with the Milwaukee Bucks
After suffering an injury as a rookie and appearing in only three games in his first season, Dekker averaged 6.5 points in his second year as the Rockets’ reserve.
After the 2016-17 season, he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a deal that sent Chris Paul to Houston. After a year with the Clippers, Dekker bounced between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards. Between these stops, he spent about 10 minutes as Buck before being transferred again.
Dekker last played in the NBA in 2022 with the Toronto Raptors. He only played in one game before he was released.
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