top of page

Summary
In the summer of 2019, the Celtics lost Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, and while people thought that replacing Kyrie with Kemba Walker could be close to a wash, everybody expected that going from Al Horford to newly-signed Enes Kanter would be a big downgrade. However, those skeptics were surprised when Theis stepped in as the starting center and played really well for the Celtics.

Theis has learned the art of sealing his man after rolling to the rim, allowing a clear lane for the ball-handler if he has his defender on his back. Theis is a bit undersized for a center, but can survive against most centers in the league. He has played some power forward in bigger lineups playing next to centers, but that role is not ideal for him. It forces him to guard wings more often, and brings him away from the rim on offense. He has some ability to stretch the floor, but teams are willing to give him plenty of open pick-and-pop threes in the playoffs, and if he is unwilling to take those or unable to hit them at a decent rate, he could torpedo the offense.

At worst, Theis is still a solid backup center, and could get some interest in free agency. However, the market for centers can be volatile. Mason Plumlee signed a 3-year $24 million contract last summer, while Hassan Whiteside settled for the minimum, so there's certainly an "eye of the beholder" concept that could help or hurt Theis.
 
Cap Considerations
Theis will be an unrestricted free agent with a $9.5 million cap hold and full Bird Rights. Since his cap hold is above his market value, his cap hold really isn't that relevant, as the Bulls will either let him walk in order to maximize their cap space, or they will re-sign Theis and cut into some of their space. The Bulls also may end up operating over the salary cap.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Theis as even teams without cap space could possibly use either of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or possibly even the Room MLE to sign him.

Potential Teams: Bulls, Hornets, Spurs, Raptors, Mavericks

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $10.2 million with the Bulls

Actual Contract: 4-year, $35.6 million (team option) with the Rockets

Theis got a lot more than I expected, in a deal that I'm not really sure I understand for the Rockets. Houston did a nice job of taking Theis into the Oladipo trade exception, but that value is somewhat lowered considering they ended up not even using the full MLE. Using the full MLE on Theis instead of taking him into the trade exception could have allowed them to frontload his contract more.

Last updated: 8/19/2021

bottom of page