Daniel Theis 2 years, $10 million contract to stay in Boston

scottyno

late Bloomer
SoSH Member
Dec 7, 2008
11,304
Front court looks so much better than it did 48 hours ago, basically just need to hit on 1 or 2 out of their 4-5 big man options this year
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,841
I think there's some sort of trade coming. There's a lot of salary filler now that Smart doesn't have to be traded in a deal surrounding, say, Jaylen Brown.
Theis and Yabu get you to around $8 million.
 

DannyDarwinism

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 7, 2007
4,883
He’s an experienced big who can run and defend, plus switch and spread the floor a bit. It’s nice to have one of those for matchups that make playing the plodders undesirable.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,205
I like the depth but do wonder if they are big enough to bang with Philly. We'll see.
Once again, it doesn't matter. If the 76ers don't beat the Celtics in any games that count (playoffs or for seeding), something is really wrong. The 76ers have a chance to be the one or two seed next year. The Celtics are looking at one of the lower seeds and aren't likely to contend beyond making the playoffs.

At this point, their goal shouldn't be to "bang with Philly" but get their youngsters some run to develop and see if Poirier can be part of a rotation in the NBA.
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
Kanter can't be traded right now I don't think. Which may or may not matter to what they're looking at down the road.
Right, and I don't think Theis could be either (absent a S&T which Theis would need to agree to). But yes they have a ton more tradeable assets overall for mid-season trades or for next offseason (obviously at that point Jaylen would be an RFA so he wouldn't likely be involved in any trades, but this gives them more flexibility regardless).
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,441
Wow I was wrong. No clue what they do with 4 centers, but looking forward to the competition.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
If they do S&T for either Kyrie or Al does that make them hard-capped which means can't S&T Morris?
The hard-cap only applies to not going over $138M, so it would depend where his contract ended up. They’d very very likely be able to.

The hard cap is easy to understand once you get its motivation: teams in the luxury tax aren’t allowed to do S&Ts, so the intent is to stop sub-tax teams from skirting that rule by doing an S&T and then extending their own guys on big deals.
 

Cellar-Door

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 1, 2006
34,460
Yeah, none of the recently signed guys can be traded until December 15.
Theis and Yabu, or more likely Kanter and Yabu combined lets you take back something like 12.8M, all 3 gets you to 19.


If they do S&T for either Kyrie or Al does that make them hard-capped which means can't S&T Morris?
The Celtics will be hard-capped already because they are receiving a S&T player in Kemba, but it likely won't matter because they're not going to be near the apron. Morris S&T is unlikely, and even so, they wouldn't be over the cap unless their was a S&T for AL or Kyrie neither of which seems likely. They expect to be under the cap, let Morris walk, take Kemba into cap space, and then use the tiny bit remaining to give Edwards a 3-4 year deal instead of having to give him only 2, the Kanter signing at the RE makes it pretty clear that they expect to be a cap space team.
 

TripleOT

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2007
7,758
Theis deserves to make a few bucks. He plays his role, doesn't complain, provides instant energy, plays with max effort, does a decent job in floor coverage on the p/r, and in his second NBA season, showed he could hit the three, at 38.8% in a small sample off one three attempted per game.

Celtics bigs are a League of Nations.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Theis deserves to make a few bucks. He plays his role, doesn't complain, provides instant energy, plays with max effort, does a decent job in floor coverage on the p/r, and in his second NBA season, showed he could hit the three, at 38.8% in a small sample off one three attempted per game.

Celtics bigs are a League of Nations.
bingo. nailed it
 

mikeford

woolwich!
SoSH Member
Aug 6, 2006
29,517
St John's, NL
Feels wild for him to make the same money as Kanter when Kanter seems like a far superior player but I guess that just speaks more to the bargain the Celtics got on him than how much Theis got.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Feels wild for him to make the same money as Kanter when Kanter seems like a far superior player but I guess that just speaks more to the bargain the Celtics got on him than how much Theis got.
It’s more that the Celtics were filling up their cap space first to keep Theis’ smaller cap hold on the books, and then giving him a ballast contract once they hit the cap. It’s an order of operations thing.
 

Devizier

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 3, 2000
19,470
Somewhere
I’m a little surprised because you now have a bunch of rotational bigs who will get some minutes but by and large will play less, individually, than they did last year. But glad to have the depth.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Feels wild for him to make the same money as Kanter when Kanter seems like a far superior player but I guess that just speaks more to the bargain the Celtics got on him than how much Theis got.
Theis German buddy Maxi Kleber just got 4yrs for $35MM. They are very similar players except Danny just paid 2yrs for $10MM for a guy that knows Brads' system/rotations
 

mikeford

woolwich!
SoSH Member
Aug 6, 2006
29,517
St John's, NL
It’s more that the Celtics were filling up their cap space first to keep Theis’ smaller cap hold on the books, and then giving him a ballast contract once they hit the cap. It’s an order of operations thing.
the NBA salary cap is way too complicated because this might as well be written in another language to me.
 

Big John

New Member
Dec 9, 2016
2,086
the NBA salary cap is way too complicated because this might as well be written in another language to me.
Michele Roberts said the same thing. She wanted to throw the whole thing out and start over.

I'm guessing that Proskauer Rose drafted the first version when David Stern was still working there and the owners felt that its convoluted nature gave them a negotiating advantage. Since then a cottage industry has grown up around interpreting its twists and turns. Today, Proskauer Rose does work for all of the major professional sports leagues, not just the NBA. The status quo is good business for them.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Michele Roberts said the same thing. She wanted to throw the whole thing out and start over.

I'm guessing that Proskauer Rose drafted the first version when David Stern was still working there and the owners felt that its convoluted nature gave them a negotiating advantage. Since then a cottage industry has grown up around interpreting its twists and turns. Today, Proskauer Rose does work for all of the major professional sports leagues, not just the NBA. The status quo is good business for them.
I’d be pretty sad if it were gone. I like legalese, and it adds a lot of free entertainment. It’s like having to learn all the new mechanics of a game like Europa Universalis 4 every time a new patch is released.

Simple version @mikeford : basically because Theis was already on the Celtics, they had the right to go over the salary cap to re-sign him. So they filled up their cap with all other contracts, and then after those were in place and they were at the cap, they used their right to sign Theis and went over.

If they had signed Theis first, he would have filled up cap space, and then they wouldn’t have had it for other guys who weren’t on the team already (meaning they couldn’t go over the cap to sign those guys).

If this is at all interesting, we can go into cap holds next lol. The CBA is easiest for me to understand when I know the stories or motivations behind each of the weird rules.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Really, really noticeable in the Cavs game that Theis has worked a lot on verticality and keeping his hands up. He had a ton of "who, me?" fouls last year that were clear fouls, and the result of a lack of hand discipline. He's cleaned that up, and raised his value a ton in doing so.
 

Koufax

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
5,936
Thanks for that analysis. I watched that game and noticed the lack of calls going against him. I thought maybe that was just the referees giving him a little more slack, but it's good to hear that it's really an improvement in his game (that I didn't notice).
 

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,810
Theis with five blocks last night. He can still get swallowed up by bigger men (Thompson last night, at times), but he's been blocking shots at an impressive rate. He's not as flashy a shot blocker as Williams, but he's been effective.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Really, really noticeable in the Cavs game that Theis has worked a lot on verticality and keeping his hands up. He had a ton of "who, me?" fouls last year that were clear fouls, and the result of a lack of hand discipline. He's cleaned that up, and raised his value a ton in doing so.
Good point. Daniel has definitely cleaned up his habit of fouling with the hands. He also leads the NBA in block% (11.1%). His advanced efficiency numbers should improve, they were very good his first two seasons with the Celtics. I also think coming off of knee surgery last season may have bothered him?

I'm fine with having a bunch of inexpensive 5s that don't mind doing the dirty work and defer to the more offensively skilled players. On offense, we're seeing a boatload of more screens, cuts, player movement this season compared to last seasons 5 wide. Credit to Brad for giving Theis & TL big minutes last night. I'd expect Theis to hit a few more 3s going forward as he gets more comfortable playing 20-30mpg.

It feels like Centers get injured too easily in the modern game. So trading for & committing big money to a Steven Adams/Marc Gasol/Vucevic isn't all that attractive IMO.
If Danny can add a cheap/defense first/stronger 5 (Baynes not allowed to return :confused: ) around Dec 15th great, otherwise go with Theis/TL/Kanter/VP - Tacko in Maine. Maybe Kanter can be that bulky center (for Joel Embiid, Drummond, etc) when healthy? If nothing else the twitter wars between Enis and Embiid should be interesting
 
Last edited:

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
...
It feels like Centers get injured too easily in the modern game. So trading for & committing big money to a Steven Adams/Marc Gasol/Vucevic isn't all that attractive IMO.
If Danny can add a cheap/defense first/stronger 5 (Baynes not allowed to return :confused: ) around Dec 15th great, otherwise go with Theis/TL/Kanter/VP - Tacko in Maine. Maybe Kanter can be that bulky center (for Joel Embiid, Drummond, etc) when healthy? If nothing else the twitter wars between Enis and Embiid should be interesting
This is a really interesting topic. I'm not sold on it yet, but if true, it would definitely affect team-building approach.

It stings so much that Baynes isn't back. They'd be a legit Finals contender with him around. If they had known they were getting Kemba sooner, they probably would have had him decline the option, and then signed him with Kanter's money. Sometimes life sucks.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Thanks for that analysis. I watched that game and noticed the lack of calls going against him. I thought maybe that was just the referees giving him a little more slack, but it's good to hear that it's really an improvement in his game (that I didn't notice).
Yeah, this is a broader topic--often when we complain about foul calls, it has a lot more to do with specific things in how the guy plays than it does ref bias. It's really relevant for someone like Tatum, who doesn't get calls because of the specific way he draws contact (nighthob has been on about this awhile).
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
Yeah, this is a broader topic--often when we complain about foul calls, it has a lot more to do with specific things in how the guy plays than it does ref bias. It's really relevant for someone like Tatum, who doesn't get calls because of the specific way he draws contact (nighthob has been on about this awhile).
Absolutely, and you nailed it with Theis. He's less handsy and, I think, avoiding stupid lower body contact also. TL could benefit from the latter. Theis improved in approach (and maybe some recovery too).

He gets Baynes calls now.
 
Last edited:

Time to Mo Vaughn

RIP Dernell
SoSH Member
Mar 24, 2008
7,204
I was thinking about Theis's improved defensive ability, and was wondering if he could be a Kendrick Perkins type, who did just enough as a smaller center to frustrate some of the bigger more athletic guys. I had to look up their sizes to compare, but Perkins was 6'10 and about 270 playing weight. Theis is 6'8, 243, which is a larger gap that I remembered. Most amazing in this look up to me is that Baynes is only 2 years younger than Perkins, who I had not thought of in a long time. Baynes turns 33 in a month.
 

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,159
I've been really impressed with Theis' play this season. He looks very comfortable in the Celtics' defensive scheme. He looks very comfortable playing our away from the basket and seems to have the quickness to do so. He's also been able to be utilized here and there as a rim runner - which given all the offensive weapons the Celtics usually have (barring injuries/illness) is totally sufficient.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,497
Good point. Daniel has definitely cleaned up his habit of fouling with the hands. He also leads the NBA in block% (11.1%).
The Is is #1 only if you include a minimum of 90 minutes played. Chris Silva is #1 in block percentage at 13.6% but he's only played 60 minutes; Goga is slightly ahead of him at 12.8% but he's only played 89 minutes. The Is has played 110 minutes.

I'm fine with having a bunch of inexpensive 5s that don't mind doing the dirty work and defer to the more offensively skilled players. On offense, we're seeing a boatload of more screens, cuts, player movement this season compared to last seasons 5 wide. Credit to Brad for giving Theis & TL big minutes last night.
I don't think the cuts, screens, and player movements have a ton with who is playing at center. Brad is basically running the same stuff as he did last year. It's just that last year, after the first - or possibly second - action didn't work, someone would take the ball and try to go 1-on-1. And then someone else would go 1-on-1. And then someone else would go 1-on-1. Lather, rinse, repeat.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
The Is is #1 only if you include a minimum of 90 minutes played. Chris Silva is #1 in block percentage at 13.6% but he's only played 60 minutes; Goga is slightly ahead of him at 12.8% but he's only played 89 minutes. The Is has played 110 minutes.


I don't think the cuts, screens, and player movements have a ton with who is playing at center. Brad is basically running the same stuff as he did last year. It's just that last year, after the first - or possibly second - action didn't work, someone would take the ball and try to go 1-on-1. And then someone else would go 1-on-1. And then someone else would go 1-on-1. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Ha. MaMo, I bet he never saw a 1-1 situation he didn't think he had an advantage...screening for a teammate or helping on defense probably never occurred to him last season.

poor ole Al Horford probably had enough being the screener for MaMo, Kyrie, Tatum, etc since he wanted to play the 4.

Without a doubt, more screens are being set this year due to the players on the floor
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Ha. MaMo, I bet he never saw a 1-1 situation he didn't think he had an advantage...screening for a teammate or helping on defense probably never occurred to him last season.

poor ole Al Horford probably had enough being the screener for MaMo, Kyrie, Tatum, etc since he wanted to play the 4.

Without a doubt, more screens are being set this year due to the players on the floor
Tatum got really wide to spring Kemba on one I recall last night.
 

Kliq

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,671
I was thinking about Theis's improved defensive ability, and was wondering if he could be a Kendrick Perkins type, who did just enough as a smaller center to frustrate some of the bigger more athletic guys. I had to look up their sizes to compare, but Perkins was 6'10 and about 270 playing weight. Theis is 6'8, 243, which is a larger gap that I remembered. Most amazing in this look up to me is that Baynes is only 2 years younger than Perkins, who I had not thought of in a long time. Baynes turns 33 in a month.
Perk was an absolute house; he was very different than Theis.

I really liked everything that Theis did last night; defensively he held his own and the Celtics did well as a team gang-rebounding. Cleveland isn't a very good team but they do play two elite rebounders, which is a tall task for Theis/Tatum at the 4 and 5. I also thought on offense he was really important as a screen setter and shooter; the Celtics had a ton of points in the paint and that was due in large part to Theis setting screens and stretching the defense with his ability to shoot from deep.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Last edited:

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
Yep. Daniel Theis counting numbers aren't great but he's a valued role player with the starting unit. Predictable.

The guy does so much that doesn't show up in the box score (tip outs, screens, rotates, challenges shots, boxes out, etc). Good role player, exactly what the starting unit needed.

https://www.celticsblog.com/2019/11/24/20977741/daniel-theis-defense-continues-to-defy-expectations
Good piece.

The box score nazis will laugh off the main points, but Theis is a good basketball player. He's playing most of the Al Horford role from last year defensively and a decent percentage of Al's role on offense too. It has mitigated the defensive dropoff that many of us feared. Like really has.
 

cardiacs

Admires Neville Chamberlain
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
2,993
Milford, CT
I have come around on Theis. Up until recently, I was all for TL getting more minutes and growing into the starting role. But the four best Celtics clearly do better with Theis on the floor (Kanter added even with SSS for ref)

27579