After leaving behind his adventure for Oklahoma City Thunder on the NBA, where he did not have many opportunities, gabriel deck agreed to return to Real Madrid and signed his contract until June 2024. The forward of the Argentine basketball team went through the Merengue between 2018 and 2021, a stage that catapulted him to the American league in first place.
Deck in the NBA. Photo: AP/Jose Luis Villegas.
The pass from Tortu to Real is official
The White House made Tortu’s return official in a statement: “Real Madrid CF has reached an agreement with gabriel deck, small forward from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The player is linked to the club for this season and the next two, until June 30, 2024.”
Deck himself spoke to the official Real Madrid channel after putting the hook: “I have lived many beautiful moments, titles. It’s a very nice feeling for the time I’ve been and I think all of that has led me to the decision to be back here.; and obviously in the form of gratitude to the club that has given me so much, the opportunity to show myself and train”.
“I missed being here a lot, I’m really looking forward to it. I want to do the same as before and more, make it better. I hope to contribute my best basketball, my best determination and predisposition“, explained the one from Santiago del Estero.
El Tortu was cut by the Northwest franchise on January 4 and his return to Madrid was quickly conceived. On Sunday, after the 94-69 victory vs. Zaragoza that the man from Santiago watched from the stands, his new DT Pablo Laso confirmed that the pass had already been made and lamented the little activity of the man from Santiago in recent months.
“He is a player who opens up many options for us in the game, both defensively and offensively, and this is not the time to discover a player like him, when everyone already knows him. The first time he came here we were clear that he was someone who could grow a lot with us. He can play inside and outside, he gives us a lot of versatility, he understands the game; and that is not going to change”, explained the coach.
Deck at the medical review. Photo: @RMBasketball.
And he completed: “We are talking about a very decisive player for me in all the teams he has played for, I wouldn’t talk about Oklahoma because he hasn’t played there and this would be Gaby’s worst today. The feeling is that since the Fenerbahce game, eight or ten months ago, I think he has played four games, the ones for the Olympic Games with Argentina. The rest cannot be valued.”
The one from Colonia Dora comes from being cut by the Thunder. Photo: Kelley L. Cox/USA TODAY Sports.
Although the numbers provided by the Spanish are not entirely reliable, the truth is that the tortoise played only 17 games during his time in Oklahoma (ten in the first season and seven in the second) and all of them started as a substitute.
El Tortu with Madrid in its previous stage. Photo: EFE/ Juanjo Martin.
The native of Colonia Dora came to a team that is a leader in the Spanish ACB League (16 wins in 17 games) and is second in the Euroleague (15 wins and three losses). In his previous stint with the capital team, Deck won five titles (an ACB League, a Copa del Rey and three Spanish Super Cups).
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Official: Real Madrid announced the return of Deck