Oklahoma city thunder became a focus of attention. In a franchise in a deep rebuilding process, the news it offers is bitter for these lands: Gabriel Deck has no place. Play very little. Almost nothing. They do not even give him opportunities when several colleagues are reported as absent for entering the health protocols. The most curious thing of all is that in the tiny space that they offer him, very from time to time, the Argentine shows that he is up to the competition. His numbers for those times are very good. And it is not necessarily about “garbage minutes”, with the parties defined. It has been his turn, for example, to enter the first half, play eight minutes, score five points and not use it again throughout the game.
The situation is inexplicable. Not only for Argentines, who observe everything from the exclusive perspective of our interest. The North American press also wonders what kind of strategy the technical staff has for the Colonia Dora player. It is noted that their main point in planning is the development of talents. But that does not stop at least other valuable players from contributing what is necessary to improve the team.
Deck, 26, seems to have “fallen” into the wrong team. He has a trade, but that’s something Oklahoma City doesn’t seem very interested in these days. He prefers to train other younger talents to acquire the missing experience. Deck is also talented. And there is the part of history that we Argentines find it difficult to assimilate. If there is anything to spare in the NBA, it is talent. Although they are not proven players in their professional worth like the Argentine, there are many players as talented – or even more – than Deck.
Just one example. On Sunday night Josh giddeyA 19-year-old Australian (base 2.03m) who was left out of the team that won the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 at the last minute, broke an impressive NBA record. In the Thunders’ 95-86 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, he became the youngest player to record a triple-double with 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds.
It’s no mere statistical detail that the Oklahoma rookie has become the youngest player in competition history to record a triple-double, breaking the previous record set by Charlotte Hornets’ LaMelo Ball last season. . It is a determining point in Deck’s future in the franchise, since the Argentine is days away from the revision of his contract.
The more personnel Oklahoma City has at its disposal, the more the Santiago’s chances are reduced. He already showed that he has all the tools to be in the rotation … but he is always relocated to the end of the line. If Sam Presti, the organization’s general manager, along with coach Mark Daigneault, has any plans for the Argentine, no one can figure it out yet.
The player’s official account (@teamtortuok) started a campaign with the hashtag #FreeDeck. The data did not go unnoticed in the United States. The journalist Rylan Stiles, very close to the franchise, answered the message that seemed to arouse some controversy. “Gabriel Deck can play basketball on the moon. It is something that I have said many times; I personally don’t understand the plan with Deck, but for the official (Deck) communication page to act like this is a parody is crazy to me (…). I do not see the need to tweet #FreeDeck every day as if the two parties did not know that this was the agreement, “said the chronicler.
And in the following post Stiles, with some irony, extended his position on the claim a bit more: “I love this idea that Sam Presti and the Thunder organization, who have been the most transparent in sports and of which no Former player has nothing bad to say about them, they randomly chose to mess with Gabriel Deck. I’m willing to bet that Presti was transparent about the plan, but $ talk (sic) ”.
Behind Deck’s situation, the figure of Giddey, who returned on Sunday after missing the last three games for entering the league’s health and safety protocols, rises and explains why he was chosen by OKC with the pick number six of the last draft. Giddey’s 14 assists are a new record for an Oklahoma City rookie.
What happens with Deck may have to do with what other franchises intend. Although there is no official information, some rumors in the United States indicate that there are organizations asked about the Argentine, and that OKC does not give answers, since they know the potential of the Santiago native. It will be a matter of seeing what happens until next January 10, when the team has the option to extend the player’s contract or discard it.
But that concern is very Argentine. In the United States they only talk about Giddey’s list of 17 points, 14 assists, 13 rebounds and 4 steals, records that only occurred seven times in NBA history … authored by Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Ben Simmons, Draymond Green and Larry Bird.
Giddey, who averaged 11 points, 6.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds and one steal per game in 2021-2022 and was voted the best rookie in the Western Conference in November, is not a gamble that went well. for OKC. This boy began to attract the attention of all NBA scouters for a long time.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who hit 107 triple-doubles during his playing career, was impressed by Giddey’s performance. “At 19, he understands how to play,” he said, surprised. He feels comfortable with the ball. All his teammates know that if he has it, they will cut him, because there is a possibility that he will put them in a position of success. You are comfortable throwing three points. It has the complete package. At 19, it is only a matter of time to understand how the teams are going to deal with it. It’s as good as advertised. “
Giddey is the focus today. But he’s not the only one. Oklahoma City has a lot of young talent and Deck is one more on the list. Nobody can explain why they don’t have minutes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Giddey, Darius Bazley, Kenrich Williams, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Derrick Favors, Mike Muscala, Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon, Aaron Wiggins, Ty Jerome, Tre Mann, Isaiah Roby … They all average more time on the court than the Argentine this season, who went from 21.2 minutes per game in 2020/21 to just 5.3 in 2021/22.
“Deck is not in the rotation, but we want him to stay focused. At some point he will have an opportunity to help us, ”his coach Mark Daigneault said in October. But from the Argentine environment, patience seems to have run out. An unfavorable scenario and an incomprehensible strategy, at least from the Argentine perspective.
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Gabriel Deck, the campaign for him to play and the message on his Twitter account that caused astonishment in Oklahoma City