Daniel Theis
Heading into, and throughout a large majority of the season, we here at the Houdini have repeatedly stated that the Boston Celtics should strongly consider bolstering their center rotation. While this sentiment still rings true for us, we would be remiss if we did not give Daniel Theis the kudos that he deserves for his play during the 2019-20 season.
Though somewhat undersized even for today’s small ball era center (6-8, 215 pounds) the German born baller has had himself a nice season filling in as the team’s starting five.
Through 58 games Theis boasted respectable averages of 9.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game on 57 percent shooting from the floor and 32 percent shooting from deep. Though he started the season off a bit slow — averaged seven points and seven boards on a horrid 15 percent shooting from downtown — as the year unraveled, he started to pick up the pace in a huge way for the team.
Over the two months prior to the league’s suspension, Theis saw himself averaging 12.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and just shy of a block per game on 35 percent shooting from 3 and 61 percent shooting from the field as a whole.
Though he may not have been as consistent of a stretch big as many believed he’d be coming into the season — shot 39 percent from deep in 2018-19 — the center proved to be quite a reliable pick & roll/ pop participant and an absolute enforcer on the defensive end, ranking fourth in the league in real defensive box plus minus at the position.
Is he the flashiest player the Boston Celtics have on their roster? No. But make no mistake about it, he managed to over perform for the C’s throughout the season.