At the start of the regular season, the biggest question mark the Celtics had about their roster was unquestionably the center spot and it was for good reason. One of the formerly best bigs in the league departed for Philadelphia in Al Horford while a reliable defensive anchor was given away to Phoenix in order to clear salary cap room. The Celtics were going to center by committee to begin the year, betting that one or more of Daniel Theis, Enes Kanter, Robert Williams and Vincent Poirier would do enough around a stable of offensive wings to hold down the fort for the Green on both ends.
Team sources acknowledged behind closed doors that the Celtics had holes that would likely need to be addressed at some point and a question mark in the middle appeared to be one of them.
“Most of them are new,” Danny Ainge said before the season started. “I think Daniel has the most experience of that group of guys with our group. I think he’s got a little bit of a head start, just mentally and emotionally and understanding what Brad wants. … I think it’s ... those are question marks that I’m not sure how good it’s all going to fit and work but I think, individually, they all can contribute.”
At the trade deadline, more centers were moved around the league than perhaps any other position with high-salaried names like Clint Capela and Andre Drummond changing addresses, along with lesser role players such as Dewayne Dedmon, Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Len finding new homes.
The Celtics took a pass on all of those names though and it was largely due to the crucial bang for the buck that Theis had given them all season long. He saved perhaps his best performance of all for Friday night with a career-high 25 points and 16 rebounds in a 10-point win over the Wolves to help improve Boston to 12-2 over the last 14 games.
Theis has emerged as a surprisingly efficient fifth scoring option in the starting five in the past two months, scoring in double figures in 10 of the C’s last 14 games. Amid the Celtics’ 12-2 hot streak, Theis is averaging 11.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg while shooting a team-best 61.4 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range in just 26 minutes per game.
That type of production for a secondary scoring has put Boston’s biggest question mark for the season into the top-half of centers around the NBA when you factor in his meager salary $5 million on the year. While the numbers have been impressive lately though, his impact goes far beyond that. On a team that had trouble maximizing offense around so many scoring options on the floor last season, Theis is happy to do the dirty work for everyone else.
“I don’t need the ball in my hands as much,” Theis told reporters in Minnesota. “We have so many talented guys that when we run pick-and-roll they have to pick someone and leave someone open. JT, Jaylen, Gordon and Kemba on the perimeter it’s hard to guard us on the pick-and-roll.”
That type of mentality has not slipped by teammates in the midst of a 39-16 start to the year.
“He’s really unselfish, and by that, it’s not always passes,” Hayward told reporters. “He just gives up his body a lot with his cuts, with his screens, sealing guys, letting us get open looks. He’s got a great feel for the game so he knows where to be at different points in time whether that’s rolling to the rim, half-rolling, popping. He’s a really good basketball player. And that’s just on that end. Defensively he’s been our anchor all year. He’s really good for us.”
“I get a lot of buckets off Theis setting screens and sealing and stuff like that,” Jayson Tatum added. “I always make sure I say thank you.”
Theis ranks 12th in screen assists in the NBA, consistently setting the stage for easy looks for his wing teammates while being a garbage man around the basket, cleaning up any open misses or taking advantage of being left open on the roll as seen in this impressive throw down against the Wolves off a sweet Marcus Smart dish Friday night.
Marcus Smart hits the rolling Theis with a sick behind the back pass for the dunk pic.twitter.com/2XVcYVoMhp
— The Render (@TheRenderNBA2) February 22, 2020
