Tag: Gabriel Deck

2021-22 Thunder player grades: Gabriel Deck

Handing out a final grade for Oklahoma City Thunder forward Gabriel Deck’s 2021-22 regular season.

(Editor’s note: We are starting individual grades for all players from the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)

With the 2021-22 regular season now officially in the books, the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-58) finished their season with the fourth-best lottery odds. This means it is now time for individual player grades for all 26 players who suited up for the team this season during the 82 games. The grades will be determined by what the season expectations were for each player and how they lived up to them.

The twenty-second player in the installment is Gabriel Deck, whose mysterious Thunder tenure came to an end after just seven appearances this season.

OKC Thunder news: Thunder acquire and release Miye Oni, also waive Gabriel Deck

The Gabriel Deck era is officially over as the Thunder waive the 26-year-old to create a roster spot and gain a second round pick in a trade with the Jazz.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have acquired Miye Oni and a 2028 second-round pick from the Utah Jazz, in order to make the trade work, the Thunder will also waive Gabriel Deck, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. With the Thunder waiving both Deck and Oni, the team has created a roster spot as the NBA trade deadline rears closer.

Deck’s weird tenure with the Thunder has finally come to an end. The 26-year-old signed with the Thunder last April and played in 10 games, where he averaged 8.4 points, 4 rebounds and 2.4 assists. But he has struggled to get any playing time this season with just seven short appearances.

Due to Deck’s age and inability to space the floor, getting consistent minutes with the Thunder was always going to be a problem. There’s always the possibility that a contending team signs Deck, like the LA Clippers or Chicago Bulls, whom both have shown reported interest in him before.

Oni went 58th overall in the second round of the 2019 NBA Draft. The 24-year-old has spent his first three seasons with the Jazz, where he has averaged 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 80 career games.

In a small sample size in the NBA, Omi has shown the ability to shoot the ball at a respectable level, shooting 33 percent on 115 career attempts.

It seems like the purpose of this trade is for the Thunder to gain an additional asset as they eat the remaining salary in exchange for a pick and the Jazz create some financial and roster-building flexibility.

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Thunder recall Gabriel Deck from G League’s Blue

Well, that was a short G League trip for Gabriel Deck as he stayed for just six hours to presumably get an extra practice in.

Six hours after initially assigning him to the Oklahoma City Blue, the Oklahoma City Thunder have recalled Gabriel Deck.

As noted earlier, this was either a move to give him extra practice time as the focal point of the offense since the Thunder are off for two days or to give him a chance to play the Blue game on Wednesday afternoon and be active for the Thunder game on the same night.

It seems like the team went with the former strategy but this does not completely rule out using the latter strategy.

The Thunder have made similar moves all season long where they have called players up and down between the NBA and G League to give bottom-of-the-roster-players a chance to get extra practice time and be the offensive focal point since both teams run the same offenses and uses the same language.

Deck has averaged 2.2 points in six games this season.

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OKC Thunder assign Gabriel Deck to G League’s Blue

The Thunder have liberally used the Blue this season and that is the case once again with Gabriel Deck going back down for the second time in three days.

The Oklahoma City announced that they have assigned Gabriel Deck back to their G League affiliate — the Oklahoma City Blue.

This comes two days after previously assigning Deck and others to the Blue just to call them back up eight hours later in order to have them suit up for last night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.

I expect a similar game plan with Deck as the Thunder do not play another game until Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Blue have not played a game since Dec. 5 and will not play one until Dec. 15. So these last two G League trips for Deck was probably to get some extra practice time in as the focal point of the offense.

But then again, the Blue (12 pm) and Thunder (7 pm) both play home games on Wednesday at Paycom Center. I could definitely see a situation where Deck plays heavy minutes for the Blue and is active for the Thunder. This would not be the first time the franchise has used this strategy this season.

This now Deck’s third G League assignment this season.

After arriving in April last season, Deck finished the season with 10 games played and playing over 20 minutes a night. This year, his role has taken a significant step back as the team focuses more on player development. The 26-year-old has averaged 2.2 points in six games this season.

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Thunder assign Deck, Maledon, Roby to the G League’s Blue

The Oklahoma City Thunder have once again sent several guys down to the Blue to get practice and game time as the focal point of the offenses with Gabriel Deck, Theo Maledon and Isaiah Roby.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Saturday morning that they have assigned Gabriel Deck, Theo Maledon and Isaiah Roby to their G League affiliate — the Oklahoma City Blue.

Deck has averaged 2.2 points in seven games this season. Maledon has averaged 2.8 points in 12 games this season. And Roby has averaged 6.4 points in 13 games this season.

This news should not be surprising. These three have been part of a group of players — including Vit Krejci — who have continuously been called up and down between the Thunder and Blue all season long.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has said multiple times this season that the franchise will use the Blue liberally, especially since they share the same home arena now, to give guys regular playing time that they would not receive with the Thunder.

Maledon and Roby make sense; both are young players who are just buried in the depth chart. So it is better to give them some run in the G League and help them gain confidence than let them rot on the bench. The Deck situation is a fascinating one as the 26-year-old has not really played this season and is a bit too long in the tooth to be prioritized by the franchise to give developmental minutes. It feels like an odd marriage between the Thunder and Deck that grows more mysterious each Blue assignment he gets.

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Daigneault gives update on Lu Dort, Gabriel Deck injuries

Lu Dort and Gabriel Deck remain questionable ahead of the game against the Lakers.

Oklahoma City Thunder wing Lu Dort remains questionable after missing the game against the Los Angeles Clippers due to a shoulder injury, but he did show progress during practice on Wednesday.

Head coach Mark Daigneault said Dort practiced in full. The team will evaluate his status in the morning, but he remains questionable for the time being.

“It wasn’t an overly serious thing. He looked pretty good today,” Daigneault said.

Dort suffered the injury late in the third quarter of the game against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday when Warriors big Nemanja Bjelica set a moving screen against Dort. The Thunder wing went to the ground after the collision but got up and finished the quarter.

Daigneault also gave an update on wing Gabriel Deck, who has a heel injury.

Deck is “more questionable” than Dort and had a limited practice on Wednesday, Daigneault said.

Deck has played 10 total minutes over two appearances this season.

The Thunder’s next game is against the Lakers on Thursday night. Tipoff for the West Coast game is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Central Time.

When the two teams faced off on Oct. 27, the Thunder had a come-from-behind win over Los Angeles. That remains OKC’s only win of the season.

This insane Poku-JRE play vs. Nuggets shows how fun Thunder can be

Aleksej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl teamed up for an insane play against the Nuggets, and Twitter reacted.

Bigs aren’t supposed to be able to do this.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have made it their mission to draft as many players who can do as many things as possible. A traditional center? Don’t even think about it. A 7-foot ball handler with magical passing? Sign them up. It’s like the Drake meme, but with Sam Presti’s face photoshopped over the rapper.

In the Thunder’s 113-107 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets to close out the preseason, the aforementioned Aleksej Pokusevski and 6-foot-8 center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl pulled off an exhilarating two-man passing clinic that would make Nuggets star Nikola Jokic proud.

Again — bigs don’t do this.

Pokusevski dribbles behind the back, bounces the ball between his legs and taps the pass behind his back — all without using his right hand. Without stopping his motion, he flies into the lane.

The ball finds Robinson-Earl, who immediately shifts it to his right hand and fires a one-handed, side-arm bounce pass around his defender and into the lane for a give-and-go.

Pokusevski slightly overran the rim, but the pass is good enough and the Serbian is long enough to grab it and lay it in from the other side of the basket.

It was masterful. Twitter reacted in suit.

 

Those two weren’t the only to show off their passing. Rookie forward/guard Josh Giddey drove into the lane, took to the air and passed around the defender to hit Mike Muscala, who finished the easy layup.

It’s OK to feel bad for Nuggets big Zeke Nnaji, who was at the defensive receiving end of both remarkable plays from the young Thunder players.

Oklahoma City couldn’t get the win, but there were positives for the second game in a row against Denver.

3 Thunder goals: Gabriel Deck’s path to rotation minutes

Gabriel Deck has returned to the OKC Thunder. How consistent will his playing time be this year?

Gabriel Deck’s late-season arrival to Oklahoma City last season was delayed even further by visa issues. By the time he suited up, the Thunder had just 10 games left.

But Deck was a breath of fresh air, using his size well in the post and making some nice passes as a lead facilitator. It was easy to see how his game could translate to the NBA long-term, but he needs plenty of refining.

After uncertainties regarding Deck’s future during the offseason, he is back in OKC and on the team’s training camp roster. Here are three goals he should have to secure a spot on the Thunder and eventually in the rotation.

Gabriel Deck speaks on rumors that he had planned to return to Spain

Thunder wing Gabriel Deck was rumored to be returning to Spain and leave the NBA, but he said at training camp that it was never a plan.

One of the big mysteries that hovered over the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason was whether Gabriel Deck would be back. The Argentinian wing played 10 games for the Thunder last year and looked good on the court, but with a non-guaranteed contract, OKC did not have to bring him back this season.

What complicated matters more was that rumors were abound about Deck returning to Spain to play in EuroLeague again.

With a Thunder roster crowded with unproven talent and Deck’s apparent desire or willingness to go back to Europe, would the match remain?

Well, training camp began and Deck was there in a Thunder uniform. The Oklahoman’s Joe Mussatto reported that Deck said the rumors were just that: rumors.

“The rumors are not true,” Deck said to Mussatto. “It was always my plan to be here with the Thunder.”

Over 10 games last season, Deck showed a very natural passing ability and had the strength to beat his defenders in the paint. His arrival was delayed due to visa issues, but he was one of the more exciting players on the Thunder over the final weeks of the tough season.

With part of a season and a full NBA offseason under his belt, Deck should be a bit more accustomed to U.S. basketball. He’ll try to secure a rotation spot this season and prove he has the talent to remain in the NBA.

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3 takeaways: Gabriel Deck outscores most OKC starters in 4th quarter alone

Gabriel Deck had 12 points in the fourth quarter and Al Horford returned to the bench but the OKC Thunder lost to the Utah Jazz.

The Oklahoma City Thunder trailed by as many as 29 points to the Utah Jazz before losing 109-93 on Friday.

The Thunder, Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons all lost, making this a night with no change on the Tankathon leaderboard. Oklahoma City and the Magic are tied for the third-best odds in the NBA draft lottery, while the Pistons are one game ahead of them for the second-best odds.

Though it was a defeat, OKC head coach Mark Daigneault spoke about how it was good for the Thunder to go up against Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the likely Defensive Player of the Year.

Wing Svi Mykhailiuk, who led the Thunder with 19 points, talked about how he used a Steve Nash method to create some space and open looks against Gobert and the drop defense that the Jazz play.

Mykhailiuk, guard Theo Maleddon and forward Gabriel Deck all played well, but the Thunder didn’t have enough juice to truly get going against the intense Utah defense.

They shot 42.9% from the field, 31.6% from 3 and, entering the fourth quarter, had only attempted six free throws in the entire contest.

Here are three takeaways from the game, including the return of center Al Horford to the Thunder bench.