"How about going from not playing at all in Indiana, to playing occasionally for the Clippers, to “Hey, could you maybe start at center for a playoff team?”
Theis is a potential opening-day starter for a Pelicans team that finds itself without a starting-caliber five. While there is little chance Theis finishes games when the Pels are at full strength — presumably Zion Williamson will see extensive action as a small-ball five — there’s also the little matter of Williamson’s injury history and what that might mean for a more extensive role for the German big man.
Realistically, this is a 15-minutes-a-night assignment, but on a team with limited floor spacing in the starting group, Theis will have to show he can knock down an occasional 3 (37.1 percent last year, 33.1 percent career). The 32-year-old is no giant himself at 6-8 but needs to provide some rim protection for a team heavy on perimeter stoppers and light on frontcourt tonnage, especially in the non-Williamson minutes."
3 comments
Daniel theis is just another version of Larry nance, and we saw how much willie loved playing him over a traditional center in JV
He’s only a temporary starter. We will be trying hard to get a starting center before the trade deadline
For stretches he is solid but for a whole game banging against Joel, jokic, wemby, ad, towns, sabonis,… Maybe not