Boston Celtics: 3 Daniel Theis trades to the Charlotte Hornets

Daniel Theis followed up his 23-point, 10 rebound-performance on Wednesday night with seven points and two rebounds in 24 minutes last night in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. Coming off the bench for the Boston Celtics, he failed to make much of a splash against the Sixers even with Joel Embiid on the sidelines.

In fact, Dwight Howard dominated Theis in the paint, to the tune of 12 rebounds in 18 minutes in the 122-110 loss.

No knock on Howard–who was an integral member of the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers NBA Championship team–but the backup big man on a contender shouldn’t be that thoroughly outplayed by the former All-NBA center at this stage of his career.

So, with that, I’m continuing my run of trading Daniel Theis off of the Cs and send him to a Charlotte Hornets team that will be without Tyler Zeller for at least a few more weeks as it tries to stay relevant in the Eastern Conference playoff picture:

Why the Boston Celtics do it

Malik Monk came out of the University of Kentucky with sky-high expectations but has failed to live up to any of them in his Charlotte Hornets career so far. Given that he is a bit player in the Queen City, his value has likely plummeted since being drafted in 2017 in any hypothetical deal.

In limited spurts this year, Monk has shown that he can still be streaky with his shot (42% from deep). Danny Ainge might as well see if he can go on a contract-year hot-streak in a new city.

Why the Charlotte Hornets do it

Losing Monk for Theis isn’t giving up much, but if the German center can regain his 2019-20 consistency, he can serve as another passer in a Hornets lineup that is suddenly filled with playmakers with Gordon Hayward’s and LaMelo Ball’s arrivals.