Get to know new OKC Thunder forward, Gabriel Deck

The OKC Thunder are only 12 games away from embarking on their highly anticipated offseason, but this hasn’t stopped Sam Presti and co. from making shakeups within the team’s makeup.

This past Thursday, Oklahoma City went on to sign Real Madrid forward, Gabriel Deck, to a 4-year, $14.5 million deal and, Friday night before tip-off to their bout against the Washington Wizards, head coach, Mark Daigneault, announced that the 26-year-old had touched down in the Sooner State:

"“He’s here, which is great,” Daigneault said. “Obviously it took some layers to get him to this point, and we’re excited to have him here."

Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Deck, don’t be embarrassed. We’re here to fill you in on some things to get you familiarized with OKC’s newest baller.

Getting to know Gabriel Deck, the newest edition to the OKC Thunder roster

An Argentinian native, Deck entered the professional world of basketball back in 2010 at the age of 14 with the Argentinian LNB team, Quimsa.

Since then, he has suited up for two other ball clubs including the San Lorenzo de Almagro and, most recently, Real Madrid where he averaged 8.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent shooting from deep during his 2020-21 EuroLegue play.

During his time as a professional, Deck has accumulated numerous accolades such as 2018 LNB MVP & FIBA Americas League Grand Final MVP and helped guide Argentina to a FIBA Americas League championship that same year while also contributing towards attaining a silver medal for the team at the 2019 FIBA World Cup (averaged 13.9 points and 3.1 rebounds on shooting 37 percent shooting from deep).

A high-energy swingman with real two-way potential, the 26-year-old seems to have the specific size and skill set necessary to flourish in the NBA. At 6-8, Deck has the ability to play either forward position, while his combination of floor spacing, court vision, and ball-handling would allow him to serve even as a larger two-guard in certain lineups (talk about positionless basketball).

With him now projected to be suiting up for the OKC Thunder, Daigneault has stated that, as soon as he’s cleared for on-court activity, he’ll be throwing the wing into the rotation in an effort to analyze his game and see what they may have in the prospect moving forward:

"“As soon as he’s cleared to do that, he’s gonna join us and we’re gonna get him in the mix pretty quickly,” Daigneault said. “Because we’re excited about seeing him play; we wanna see him in an NBA game, on our team. It’s valuable evaluation time for us and its valuable experience for him.”"

With the fact that the forward still has to clear NBA safety protocols, which includes a seven-day quarantine period, the earliest we’ll likely be able to see the newest member of the OKC Thunder take to the hardwood would be May 1st during their home-tilt against the Indiana Pacers.