The Houston Rockets are an extremely deep team with championship aspirations entering the 2015-16 NBA season and because of that it might be hard for the rookies to earn playing time in year one. The Rockets drafted Sam Dekker 18th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft and many people considered that a steal as he is a lottery type of talent. Despite his talent Dekker may have trouble finding the floor as a rookie but if he does it will likely be at the power forward spot, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
Dekker is a 6 foot-9 forward out of Wisconsin so he has the size to be able to play the four especially in todays NBA. In college Dekker primarily played the small forward spot but he could be a prototypical stretch four as he has length and his long range shooting ability is adequate enough to make him a threat.
The Rockets are actually at least two deep at both positions with quality players who have played roles for the Rockets in the past. Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer are the two small forwards while Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas are the two power forwards. Houston also drafted Montrezl Harrell early in the second round so he may also be in the mix for minutes at power forward.
Right now Motiejunas is still recovering from offseason back surgery and his status for the beginning of the offseason is unknown so if he were to miss time it might be a battle between Dekker and Harrell for those backup minutes. Harrell is more of a classic four man as he is a good rebounder and shot blocker but the Rockets love to chuck up threes and Dekker would fit that mold better.
In his final year at Wisconsin Dekker averaged 13.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting a career high 53 percent from the field but a career low tying 33 percent from three. Dekker is an extremely streaky shooter from three and he will need to work on his consistency at the next level but he is a talented player and the fact that he may not get into the rotation this season speaks to Houston's depth.
