Cavs officially acquire Sam Dekker from Clippers

CLEVELAND– The Cavaliers have officially acquired Sam Dekker from the Los Angeles Clippers, the team announced via press release.

Cleveland will also be getting cash considerations from Los Angeles as well as the draft rights to Renaldas Seibutis. The Cavs will send the draft rights to Vladimir Veremeenko to the Clippers in return.

Last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, the 24-year-old Dekker averaged 4.2 points on .494 shooting and 2.4 rebounds in 73 games.

The Houston Rockets selected Dekker with the 18th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He only played in three games that year after undergoing back surgery, but in his second season averaged 6.2 points per game with Houston. Prior to the NBA, Dekker played three years at Wisconsin and was a key player on the 2015 team that made it the the NCAA National Championship game.

In order to take on Dekker’s $2.76 million salary for next season, the Cavs are using the Kyrie Irving trade exception from last summer. With Dekker, the Cavs have the opportunity to further develop a player that is fairly low-risk and that they had to give little up in order to acquire. Dekker will be a restricted free agent next summer, so the Cavs can either have the upper-hand in keeping him if he pans out, or simply let him walk after this season.