Thunder Prospect Evaluation: Gabriel Deck
Gabriel Deck is an interesting prospect for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Although he’s 26 years old, he was an international player that the Thunder brought over towards the end of last season.
With low expectations, the Argentinian showed flashes of being a solid role player last season. While he’s likely nearing his ceiling as a professional basketball player, he certainly has the ability to impact the game.
At 6-foot-8, the forward can play multiple positions with his versatility.
As each player in this series is evaluated, it’s important to consider the prospect they are now, but more importantly how they could look in five years when the Thunder are a competitive playoff team once again.
Last Season’s Numbers
Deck played ten games with the Thunder last season at the very end of the year. He averaged 8.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 21.4 minutes per contest.
In his first ten games as an NBA player, Deck made the transition quite well. Especially late in the season on a depleted Thunder team, he fit right in and was immediately plugged into the lineup.
The area Deck struggled in most as a rookie was his 3-point shooting. He attempted 15 threes last season and only converted on two of them. However, it was a small enough sample size to assume he could turn things around in the upcoming season, especially considering his international shooting numbers.
Deck looked solid in the recent Tokyo Olympics, giving him more experience heading into the upcoming season.
Fit On Current Roster
It will be hard to find minutes for Deck in the upcoming season. While the Thunder’s depth on the wing isn’t great, they do have several young players they want to give the opportunity to play and develop.
At 26, Deck is an older player relative to his teammates. Oklahoma City is one of the youngest teams in the entire NBA.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Deck get playing time early in the season as the Thunder evaluate what type of team they are. However, as the season goes on, the young guys should be prioritized.
Long-Term Fit
It’s likely that Deck won’t be on the roster in five years when OKC is hoping to be a contender once again. He’ll be on the wrong side of 30 at that point and the Thunder will have a ton of young talent developed into their primes.
Additionally, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Deck go back overseas to play in the near future. It was rumored that he considered going back to Spain for the upcoming season with his Thunder contract being non-guaranteed, but it appears as of how his plan is to continue his current NBA stint.
Overall, unless Deck makes a huge leap this season, he shouldn’t be part of the long-term plans. With two seasons left on his contract, Deck has no guaranteed money. Both seasons are non-guaranteed, meaning the Thunder can waive him up to a certain point and not owe anything.
Prospect Grade
D+
Even for Real Madrid, who he played with before being signed by the Thunder, Deck was by no means a superstar. Last season internationally, he averaged less than ten points per game, although he did have efficient shooting splits.
When the Thunder brought him over, it wasn’t to become a franchise cornerstone.
Long-term, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Deck back overseas or traded to another NBA team for a second-round pick.
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the message board community today!
Like SI Thunder on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news.
