OKC Thunder waives Gabriel Deck, acquires second-round pick in trade with Utah Jazz
The Thunder netted a second-round pick and opened a roster spot on Tuesday by waiving forward Gabriel Deck.
The sequence of moves started with the Thunder acquiring 24-year-old guard Miye Oni and a 2028 second-round pick from the Jazz.
For Utah, it was nothing but a salary dump and a way to free up a roster spot. The Jazz sent the financially flexible Thunder a second-round pick just for taking on Oni’s contract.
Oni played in 80 games for the Jazz over the last three seasons, averaging 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in eight minutes per game.
The Thunder, which sent nothing back to the Jazz, had to clear a roster spot before trading for Oni. The Thunder did that by waiving Deck, and it will also waive Oni in a separate move. Neither has a guaranteed contract past this season.
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So the Thunder, by waiving the seldom-used Deck, added to its hoard of picks and also created a roster spot by waiving Oni, the player it just acquired. That’s the sort of back-end roster shuffling general manager Sam Presti will be happy to do as the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline approaches.
The Thunder is $34 million below the salary cap. OKC will be a popular dumping ground for unwanted contracts — as long as picks are attached.
Deck’s Thunder tenure is over after 17 games. The Thunder signed Deck, a native Argentinian, last April from Real Madrid.
The decision to sign Deck last season was puzzling then, and even more so now. At 26, Deck didn’t match the Thunder’s timeline, and his old-school game didn’t match the Thunder’s style of play.
A Twitter account, @TeamTortuOK, that billed itself as Deck’s official communications team made the situation even more bizarre.
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#FreeDeck 🐢😔
— Team Tortu Deck (@teamtortuok) January 3, 2022
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“#FreeDeck,” the account tweeted Sunday, alluding to Deck’s lack of playing time.
When ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that the Thunder was waiving Deck, Deck’s communications team quote tweeted: “Se terminó la tortura.”
Translated to: “The torture is over.”
Deck played in seven games this season. He averaged 2.6 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists.
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Thunder tip-ins
► Guard Tre Mann and forward Darius Bazley are back from health and safety protocols, acting head coach Mike Wilks said Tuesday.
► As of Tuesday afternoon, center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is the only Thunder player in health and safety protocols.
► Thunder coach Mark Daigneault has been in health and safety protocols for the last eight days. Wilks led practice on Tuesday. There’s no firm timeline for Daigneault’s return.
► Thunder guard Josh Giddey was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December, the NBA announced Tuesday. Giddey has won back-to-back West Rookie of the Month honors.
► The Thunder’s Jan. 26 home game has been moved to Jan. 24, the NBA announced. The game will be played at 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder waives Gabriel Deck, gains draft pick in trade with Jazz
