On their quest to reclaim the Eastern Conference’s top spot, the Milwaukee Bucks will once again have to try to catch a bitter foe. On Monday night, former Bucks guard Jrue Holiday and the Boston Celtics wrapped up their 2024 NBA Finals series against former Bucks head coach Jason Kidd. Going into next season, Milwaukee will be chasing Boston while also seeking to retain a lead over the rest of the conference’s best teams.

One of those teams is the Philadelphia 76ers, who finished 47-35 and were seeded eighth in the league. With superstar Joel Embiid under contract, the 76ers, like the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, are looking to add the proper pieces to capitalise on their NBA Championship window.

According to NBC’s John Clark, the 76ers are working out Sam Dekker, a former Badgers star who is well-known among Bucks fans in Wisconsin.CC B

Dekker, of course, was a member of the Wisconsin teams that advanced to the Final Four in consecutive years and fell to Duke in the 2015 NCAA National Championship.

After declaring for the NBA Draft, Dekker was selected in the first round by the Houston Rockets, who were then led by Daryl Morey. Morey presently leads the front office in Philadelphia.

Dekker recently completed his second season with the London Lions, which saw them win the British Basketball League. The Wisconsin Badgers star averaged 12.3 points and shot 40% from three.

After being injured as a rookie and competing in only three games, Dekker averaged 6.5 points as a Rockets reserve in his second season.

Following the 2016-17 season, he was moved to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the deal that sent Chris Paul to Houston. Dekker spent a year with the Clippers before moving on to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards. In between those stops, he spent around 10 minutes as a Buck before being transferred again.

Dekker last played in the NBA in 2022, with the Toronto Raptors. He played only one game before being released.