The Celtics will be bringing at least one familiar face to their frontcourt next season after agreeing to a two-year contract worth $10 million with Daniel Theis, according to a league source. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com was first to report the re-signing on Tuesday afternoon.
BSJ Analysis
Theis was a restricted free agent but his cap hold only counted for a very modest $1.8 million after the Celtics made him a qualifying offer on Saturday. That small number should allow the Celtics to be able to fit Kemba Walker into their open cap room later this week when a sign-and-trade is completed for Terry Rozier with the Charlotte Hornets. From there, the Celtics will be able to exceed the salary cap with early Bird Rights on Theis and sign him for $5 million annually (in place of his $1.8 million cap hold).
Theis has been a solid performer for the past two years in Boston while healthy. The biggest problem for him during that span has been health. He suffered a torn meniscus in 2017-18 and a torn plantar fascia last season which seemed to limit his effectiveness all year long on the defensive end.
The 6-foot-8 big man averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds last year and shot a career-best 38.8 percent from 3-point range but suffered mightily with mobility and fouling on the defensive end. He averaged a team-high 6.4 fouls per 36 minutes and the Celtics struggled many nights on defense when he tried to play center with the second unit. It wasn't all on Theis but his play was a sharp step-down from his rookie year on that end.
Despite these struggles, there is still a lot of potential upside to like about the 26-year-old. Theis is very familiar with the system after two years and has shown he can be an effective rim-runner and finisher in Brad Stevens’ offense. If he can sustain the gains in his 3-point shot (7 percent improvement) there is a lot to like about his fit in a pick-and-roll offense with Walker. The biggest question that he will have to answer is how much his defensive issues last year were predicated on his foot problems. A clean bill of health should help make that more clear in training camp.
The contract is also very fair as well. The Celtics only had minimum alternatives on the free-agent market now and Theis has a higher upside than all of them, particularly with his ability to stretch the floor. It also gives Boston another movable contract, which should come in handy if the team wants to combine a few contracts to make a major in-season upgrade elsewhere.
The Celtics are setting themselves up now to have a healthy competition for the starting center spot in training camp between Enes Kanter, Daniel Theis, Robert Poirier and Robert Williams. The opportunity is going to be there for two of those guys to get big minutes and someone will ultimately take command of the starting spot. Stevens will have the ability to mix things up based on specific matchups but there’s no question someone is going to be the odd man out here. Still, the Celtics were able to sell Kanter, Poirier and Theis on a chance to compete though, and all of those guys likely believe they can outplay each other and move to the top of the depth chart.
For now, the Celtics big man picture obviously looks far more settled. None of these guys are Al Horford but this could be a workable rotation for Stevens. The Celtics only have one remaining roster spot left to fill (barring other moves) and they may end up keeping that open for flexibility. A trade could be made to be free up other spots on the roster (huge summer for Guerschon Yabusele) but for now, most of the heavy lifting for Boston’s offseason may be done.
