Celtics to sign stretch big man Daniel Theis - could a trade be coming?

The Boston Celtics just made a "big" signing.


No, it's not what you're thinking - at least not yet - the Celtics just signed a stretch big man, Daniel Theis. Theis played for Brose Bamberg Baskets, a club based in Germany, where he won a Bundasliga championship, and has also played for the Washington Wizards' 2014 Summer League squad as well. The 25-year old, 6-foot-9-inch Forward turned heads this year in one of Europe's stronger leagues, winning "Best Defender" by that league in what is now his fourth season as a Bundasliga All-Star.

Theis, who can shoot the ball from deep well (.410 on 1.3 attempts per game with just under 20 minutes played per contest), is also a decent rim protector (.9 blocks per game) and defender with quick hands (.7 steals per game). He's not an explosive scorer by any means, logging just under ten points per game, nor an especially great rebounder (4.6 per game), but with his solid footwork and two-way capabilities, could reasonably see rotation minutes as a result.


This, of course, assumes he sticks with the club; early reporting suggests the deal runs through the 2018-19 season, and while the dollar amount of the deal is still unknown, with Boston being just shy of second-tier (6+ years experience - about $30 million) max contract cap space, chances are this signing is either to replace a player about to be moved, or additional bodies to fill out a salary matching situation. It's certainly possible he's headed directly to the NBA D-League as one of the two new two-way contracts allotted to Boston in the new CBA, and theoretically could use an exception to squeeze him on board if not, but this seems like odd timing for such a move.

Stay tuned, things could get interesting in a hurry.

For more stories about the offseason on CelticsLife, click here. For more by Justin, click here.


Photo via Wikipedia
Data via basketball-reference.com
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