Yes, and I'm happy for him (both that he got his ring and that he got a new 2-year deal in an attractive destination). I just didn't want him on the Rockets anymore.
Exactly what I meant, there is no incentive for him to be back unless they really want him to tutor the young guys which comes at a steep price as well. He's close to retirement.
I like Theis' game a lot, and would have loved him as a backup when we were trying to win. I don't quite see the appeal to a team this young of throwing 4 years at a 29-year-old who isn't going to move the needle. Hopefully, he can help establish a better defensive culture for a year or two and then be tradable for someone more in sync with the age of our core.
My thoughts exactly -- I find myself scoffing at some of these contracts (Alex Caruso 4/$37M, Doug McDermott 3/$42M, Gary Trent Jr. 3/$54M) and have to remind myself that it isn't 2014 anymore. The NBA has experienced monumental growth over the past 7 years, with the cap going from $58.7M in 13-14 to $109M in 20-21. Especially when you consider the cap barely increased $5M in the seven years preceding that ($53.1M in 06-07). A lot of fans (myself often included) still rely on old heuristics to determine whether a deal is "good" or not.
I'm excited about Theis but always less excited when I realize I've confused him with Matisse Thybulle
Y'all sure do complain a lot. Who else wants to take our money? At least Theis didn't get Ryan Anderson's contract, amiright?
If you want to develop strong young players on and off the court, you need a strong culture and strong vets to guide them on and off the court. Kicking guys like Sterling and House off the team and adding high-character Orc professionals like Nwaba and Theis is going to help create the ultimate learning environment. KPJ, JC, JG are going to have to toughen the F up. Learn to play defense fockers...
He will be a good backup when we are trying to win (in 2023-24), and he will be a highly tradable contract in the meantime. And when I say "tradable," that's not depending on him overperforming. The salary is in the range that is typically packaged in deals for bigger names. And of course I say tradable because of the team option in year 4. I'm not sure what people think the FO should have done with our money, but this seems pretty close to perfect.
I preferred Olynyk, but he played the best basketball of his career while here. If we paid him $12M/yr and he regressed to his pre-Houston career averages it may have been harder to trade him than Theis.
[Iko] Move for Daniel Theis shows Rockets looking to make steady, consistent uptick https://theathletic.com/2748570/202...ets-looking-to-make-steady-consistent-uptick/ The Houston Rockets have a plan. During last year’s free-agency period, this statement would have been met with some raised eyebrows. Christian Wood was brought in via savvy sign-and-trade, but the overall direction of the team was still yet to be desired. The futures of James Harden and Russell Westbrook (who would be soon traded for John Wall) were up in the air, and the roster was a strange mix of the old guard and new parts. Fast forward to today, and things are trending slowly upward. I use the word slowly because a rebuild takes time, it takes patience and, most of all, it takes a sense of realism. The 17-win season, as terrifying as it was, showed Houston what they needed — but more importantly, what they didn’t need. On the first day of free agency, the Rockets identified someone they believe that they need: unrestricted free agent Daniel Theis. ESPN reported the official terms of the agreement — four years, $36 million — and how the deal would be structured, a sign-and-trade using Victor Oladipo’s trade exception. The Athletic understands that the deal isn’t fully guaranteed, as well, giving Houston some flexibility. At the official 5 p.m. CT free agency start on Monday, The Athletic reported of Theis-Houston links, stating the organization was working to complete a multiyear deal for the 29-year-old center. Internally, Houston earmarked a number of goals for the offseason and heading into the 2021-22 season. Off the floor, they want to continue to build good habits and establish a team-first, honest culture. This involves bringing the right players with positive attitudes, the hard workers, the unselfish types. Head coach Stephen Silas has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to develop this aspect of the team stemming back to last season. On the court, the Rockets wanted to improve defensively. They wanted more opportunities to play faster and versatile (going small). Houston wanted to find talent that could complement names like Wood and Jalen Green, the No. 2 pick in this year’s draft. In bringing in Theis, the belief is that he checks all of those boxes. “Theis is the ideal veteran leader on a team with leadership in place,” said Jared Weiss, Celtics beat writer who covered Theis for three seasons. “He is a smart center on both ends of the floor whose consistency and reliability make him a lock to play above his talent level every night.” During Houston’s free-agency process, the period of evaluation of the multitude of available names, Theis was identified as one of their top targets, if not the target. He was viewed as a multidimensional player, someone who could space the floor, a good passer of the ball and, most importantly, a strong defender. The Rockets saw Theis as one of the top defenders in the free-agent class. Other names like Zach Collins and Justise Winslow were on Houston’s list for various reasons — Collins on Monday signed a three-year, $22 million deal with San Antonio, and Winslow is still unsigned as of early Tuesday morning — but Theis stood above the others. The Rockets, a team notorious for hunting value, also forecast a market crunch where players of Theis’ caliber might be available in the midlevel range of salary. Our John Hollinger’s BORD$ had Theis projected at netting $12 million annually — Houston got him at $9 million. Around this time, the Rockets expressed a strong interest to bring veteran swingman David Nwaba back while also coming to terms with Kelly Olynyk’s desire for financial security and a payday. The first question asked after Theis’ signing is, of course, his role. In his final full season in Boston, Theis started in all but one of his 65 games. Last year, splitting time between the Bulls and the Celtics, Theis started in nearly 80 percent of his games. Because of Houston’s gaping hole defensively and the power forward spot that isn’t nailed down by any means, there’s a chance Silas envisions Theis as a starter. Playing alongside Wood makes sense. Going back to last season, Wood seemed to struggle against bigger matchups, so much that Silas often deployed Olynyk as the five defensively. Theis is a smart defender who knows how to use his size and frame to his advantage. At 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, Theis has both the physicality and length to toggle between guarding power forwards and centers. With this being Houston’s first real year of a rebuild, they aren’t looking for golden tickets. Theis isn’t supposed to be the savior or a defensive anchor to build/game plan around. What he is, however, is someone who can be used in different coverages and still be a positive team defender. Think back to last season, when Silas noted Wood having some difficulty playing in drop coverage. Drop coverage is a risk, yes, but the main benefit is it keeps everything in front and still allows to be somewhat close to the rim. Theis is solid and smart. This isn’t All-NBA defense or Clamp City, but just watch. Jaylen Brown is trying hard to get rid of a pesky Patrick Williams, so he flips the Tristan Thompson screen. Watch Theis’ feet as they quickly turn towards the driving lane, preparing for Brown’s attack. He keeps his hands out in front of him, uses his frame as a shield and does just enough, long enough, to force Brown into a tough angle and allow the help defense to recover and win the possession. Simple, quick but it works. There’s a reason Theis ranked in the 90th percentile defending pick-and-rolls as a big, per Synergy — his most common defensive play type. Silas and the coaching staff will be salivating over this. Vid You could make a pretty strong argument that Theis is someone who former Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni would have loved to have in his rotation during the Orlando bubble, the most public usage of full-time small ball. Seeing Theis jostle with Joel Embiid is giving serious P.J. Tucker/Anthony Davis vibes from that playoff series. Theis didn’t defend many post-up attempts — only 11 logged via Synergy — but the conversion rate is a putrid 0.182 points per possession, a pretty solid indication that posting Theis up probably isn’t the greatest usage of a half-court possession. This is absolutely stellar defense on an MVP candidate and offensive juggernaut in Embiid, because it has a bit of everything. There’s fronting, and there’s flat-out denying. A real treat. Vid Even if Theis doesn’t start, he’d still be a quality backup. Silas staggering Theis and Wood would allow for more small ball, something that would be welcomed in Houston. Wood’s presence alone should tell you that Silas has a preference for versatile, skilled bigs as opposed to lumbering traditional centers. Theis is a solid passer and an even better cutter, two factors that should appeal greatly to Silas and the staff. Theis scored an impressive 1.405 PPP, and oddly enough, this play highlights that particular skill set even though the play was designed to show his vision. A quick screen and slip from Theis forces the defense to freeze momentarily and causes a bit of confusion. By the time they realize what’s going on and scramble to rotate, Theis flings a wicked one-handed dime to the corner. Now, Vucevic is a better passer than Wood (I’m not sure if Wood is making that same lofted pass), but Theis can play alongside another big and still make a positive impact on the floor. A second unit featuring Theis, Eric Gordon and K.J. Martin alone should be exciting. Surrounding them with more options only gives Silas more optionality. Vid Remember, this is by no means a signing that comes without flaws. For one, Theis isn’t that great of a shooter and is joining a Rockets team that flat-out stunk in that department last season. He’ll need to raise that 32 percent mark to closer to 35 or 36 percent to truly keep defenses honest on a nightly basis. He’s not that good of a post-up player himself (although Silas doesn’t run a lot of those plays anyway); he’s an average roll man and ranked in the bottom quartile in isolation defense. But Theis isn’t supposed to be a cure-all remedy. He’s being brought to Houston to add to the culture and be a team-first, smart cog. He’s 29 with a good amount of experience that should serve as valuable teaching for rookies Alperen Sengun and Usman Garuba. The Rockets got front-office frisky to bring him in, still having the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception to play with. That’s good business for a good player. Smile, folks. Better days ahead.
Assuming that the 4th year is truly a team option, I really like this deal. I am a big fan of putting stable veterans around the Rockets' extremely young set of prospects. Most human beings are not able to easily get better at multiple things easily. The development process for Jalen Green and the rest of the baby Rox is going to be so much smoother having someone who is in the right spot the majority of the time. Couple of points that may not have been covered previously: 1. If you are building around Jalen Green, you want Theis over Olynyk. If Green is going to be a franchise talent, he's going to need to learn how to create opportunities for others with the ball in his hands. You don't develop these skills without getting the reps in game and taking your lumps. And then, when you actually succeed, how do you adjust and beat teams when they start scouting you and take away the things that are actually working. A lot of Olynyk's value comes from being able to initiate the offense, pass well, and to do a bit of shot creation on the perimeter. But these are all things that we don't want him to be doing! Right now, the Rockets should not be looking to win games, but to develop the young core into the roles that they will play. The Rockets should be treating this season not as 82 games to be won or lost, but as approximately 8600 possessions to allow for player development. Every Kelly Olynyk-led possession is one where Green and company are not getting the rep. 2. It feels like post-hoc justification of a bad contract to say that a guy's best asset on offense is his screening, but for Theis, this actually might be the case. One thing that uniquely separates him from Olynyk (and Wood for that matter), is that he's not looking to actively present himself as an offensive threat, but is instead constantly looking to give his screen-and-roll partner the cleanest look possible. It doesn't take a lot of google searching to come up with a number of absolutely gushing Boston articles on how he helped speed the development of Jayson Tatum as an on-ball creator through setting solid screens and leaning into sealing off his man. https://www.celticsblog.com/2020/1/...s-a-pick-and-roll-ball-handler-boston-celtics https://hardwoodhoudini.com/2020/01/13/boston-celtics-daniel-theis-2/ https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/ce...gnature-move-has-become-celtics-secret-weapon Wood is an elite finisher in the pick-and-roll, and the pick-and-pop, but you don't want duplicative skills. You want to build around Jalen and be able to have him learn a wide skill set; how to attack and get his own, and figuring out the right angles to create for his roll man. 3. Theis has spent much of his career swinging between the 4 and the 5. He's shown the ability to start as the small-ball center, as a frontcourt partner to a 4 with no shooting ability at all (Tristan Thompson), and as the 4 next to an elite 3-point threat (Nikola Vucevic). The versatility here is extremely important, as he's always going to be able to mold into backfilling whatever the Rockets need over the next three years, and there's a lot of players on the Rockets right now who don't have a clearly defined "best position" yet in Martin, Tate, Garuba and Sengun. No matter which of these guys end up panning out, Theis is going to be able to contribute his 15-25 minutes while letting the young future core play in their ideal roles. Olynyk is very good at what he does, but his flexibility is significantly more limited if he's going to be utilized to his full potential. 4. I don't mind Tilman dodging the tax during a rebuild; take the huge windfall coming this year from Golden State and bank it. Just make sure to actually spend when the team is a real contender next time. If Sarver is willing to pony up and finally pay the tax for a 40-year old CP3, throwing away all that draft capital during Harden's prime should never happen again. For the sake of argument here, the slight difference in Olynyk and Theis's contracts is potentially the difference between using all of the NT-MLE and stay below the tax line versus being priced out. You have some pretty interesting names still out there in Kendrick Nunn and Taylor Horton-Tucker who could be pried away from their existing teams, but they might require poison pills or full NT-MLEs to outbid teams with more chances at winning next year. Still, the MLE is an expiring asset; you only get one per year. There's no reason not to use it when you're in asset collection mode like the Rockets, regardless of positional fit. People would lambast Houston if they had sold a first rounder this year for cash savings; not using the MLE is arguably even worse, considering that any player you sign with the MLE is more likely to be a contributor than a late first.
Agreed. If Mobley was the pick, then Olynyk would have been re-signed, guaranteed. But Theis game complements Green much more. Fit matters.
This signing is fine. We have a lot of young/youngish guys who need to get shots up next year and develop. Theis adds some aspects we don't have while also not taking anything off the table or taking looks from the youngsters. Next year will ideally be a lose a bunch of games year but one where we are really starting to set the foundation going forward to potentially be feisty by as early as 2022-2023 if everything breaks right and Theis will be a good rotation piece.
Wood was getting injured before Olynyk even got to the team. It wasn't wear and tear from defending bigs that was getting him, it was him randomly stepping on other's people feet while trying to score. Theis is a marginally better defender than Wood, so the other team's big is still going to get their's. Analytics might say Theis is a good defender, but in Boston he didn't look like it.
Watching his game vids I was struck by how he plays much bigger than 6'8". Had to doublecheck it to make sure he wasn't taller.
I didn't claim that Wood got injured from wear and tear. Reading is fundamental. The fact is Wood struggled defending against bigger 5's. Do you dispute this?
I made the argument that Wood was injury prone. You replied to my post saying that Theis was signed to reduce wear and tear on Wood from having to defend bigs. In sports can wear and tear lead to injuries? Yes. Would it be logical to infer that you thought that Wood's wear and tear was a factor in him being injured? Yes. Logic is fundamental. If you don't believe that wear and tear was what got Wood injured then I take your word for it and believe you. I don't dispute that Wood struggled against bigger 5's. I dispute that Theis will be significantly better at defending them than Wood.
