AWhen Daniel Theis found out two months ago that his career in the best basketball league in the world had taken a surprising turn, he was confronted with a panorama of emotions: “I don’t want to say I was shocked, but rather: I was relieved and happy,” said the international, when he returned to the Boston Celtics following a year with trips to Chicago and Houston. Certainly, the team that brought him from the Bundesliga to the NBA in 2017 and where he had made a name for himself as a reliable, enthusiastic center had given him up in a trade that is typical of American sports almost a year ago.
But there was something regarding the process that the team’s former coach-turned-manager Brad Stevens must have regretted at some point. From his point of view, a solid, physically strong and unselfishly working guy like the 30-year-old Theis has always been an important tool: “He makes our best players better,” said Stevens when asked why he was 2.06 meters tall -man had brought back.
Two other Germans involved in the deals
Theis liked the constellation. He quickly brushed aside questions regarding why. That’s the other side of the glamorous life of a professional athlete in America: money always plays a role and with it the many subtleties of the collective agreement rules with their salary brakes such as the salary cap and the so-called luxury tax that teams have to pay as soon as they Exceed cap limit. “It’s purely a business. This is not once morest you personally. That’s why I don’t hold grudges once morest anyone.”
Apart from the fact that – hardly back – he had already developed the feeling that he had never been away. And that he had signed a respectable new contract with the Chicago Bulls along the way: $35.6 million gross guaranteed, four-year term, almost twice as much per season as in the period before. Many of his teammates were still there, and just before his return to Boston, they were back in full swing, having catapulted themselves into the upper echelons of the Eastern Conference with a nine-win streak between January and February. The Celtics start this Sunday (9:30 p.m. CEST at DAZN) in second place once morest the Brooklyn Nets in the first playoff round and are happy that Theis is available. Root center Robert Williams had to undergo meniscus surgery two weeks ago and may miss the entire best-of-seven series.
Meanwhile in Houston with the Rockets: Dennis Schröder (left), once the German NBA star
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Bild: USA TODAY Sports
Incidentally, Theis’ paths crossed twice with colleagues from the German national team on his NBA tour. The first swap with the Bulls brought Moritz Wagner from Berlin to the Celtics, who sorted him out a few days later, paving the way for a new contract with the Orlando Magic. The transaction that brought Theis back to Boston was at the expense of Dennis Schröder, among others. The Braunschweiger was traded to the Houston Rockets, where his season came to an early end this week.