Dekker, Kaminsky and NBA draft
Two Badgers find themselves in decent situations
The NCAA men’s basketball Player of the Year went in the Top 10 in the NBA Draft on Thursday.
The Charlotte Hornets swapped last year’s No. 9-overall pick for this year’s, taking Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky. This, a day after trading last year’s No. 9, Noah Vonleh, and Gerald Henderson for Nicholas Batum.
Teammate Sam Dekker, somewhat surprisingly, fell to No. 18 to the Houston Rockets – one pick after the Milwaukee Bucks took Minnesota native, shooting guard, Rashad Vaughn out of UNLV.
Some may have been surprised the Bucks passed on Dekker, but they have no need for another small forward/shooting guard with limited range.
“For us, it was about the player that fit the need for us,” Bucks GM John Hammond said on the team’s website.
Milwaukee also traded for point guard Greivis Vasquez from Toronto in exchange for the draft rights to Norman Powell – the 46th overall pick – and a protected 2017 first-round pick from the Clippers.
As for Kaminsky and Dekker, right now, they find themselves in great situations, though the NBA offseason can be full of trades, as has already been evident even before the draft.
But the Hornets are team in need of a a power forward – and a stretch four at that – with, perhaps, the league’s best post player, Al Jefferson, down low. Kaminsky’s competition at power forward right now is Cody Zeller and Marvin Williams. Charlotte also recently traded for Spencer Hawes, who is essentially Kaminsky without the post game. But putting Hawes and Kaminsky on the floor at the same time will never ever happen, ever.
Dekker, on the other hand, isn’t in a terrible spot, but he’s not overtaking James Harden or Trevor Ariza in the Houston starting lineup. Backup, Corey Brewer, also did just opt-out of his contract to become a free agent and may not be back. That opens the door for Dekker.
The Rockets’ other backup at SF is K.J. McDaniels, who has a lot of potential, but didn’t play much after being traded from Philadelphia. Oh, Houston also just picked up the option on SG Kostas Papanikolaou. Maybe that wasn’t worth mentioning. And maybe Dekker is in a better spot than his old teammate, though Kaminsky has potential to start.
What’s funny about Dekker and Kaminsky is they both have huge holes in their games and, oddly enough, they’re kind of the opposite. If you could morph the two players, they’d make a Top 5 pick.
While Kaminsky has incredible footwork, a post game and great range, he’s weak, un-athletic and not a great rebounder. Dekker, on the other hand, has incredible athleticism and slashing/finishing ability at the rim, but limited range.
Both players have great size for their positions, but both are also below-average defenders.
Of course, everything could change – save for Kaminsky becoming more athletic, I suppose – from rosters to their abilities to shoot and defend. Both players landed in decent situations – in other words, neither landed in Philly. But, Kaminsky can learn from Jefferson – and maybe Hawes – while Dekker compliments Ariza almost perfectly.