At first glance, 29-year-old center Daniel Theis wouldn’t seem to fit with the rebuilding timeline of the young Houston Rockets. Nonetheless, that’s the destination he chose in the NBA’s 2021 free agency.
During Monday’s media day, which was his first press conference since officially joining the team in early August, Theis explained his reasoning and the role he’s hoping to play in Houston. His comments:
I was fortunate to learn from Al Horford and Aron Baynes in Boston what it means to be a leader of other guys. Now, I hope I can give all those young guys here. Jalen [Green] and Josh [Christopher] and also Usman [Garuba] and Alpi [Sengun] coming from Europe, hopefully help them adjust to the NBA, then develop and get better, year by year.
Theis played seven professional seasons in Germany before joining the Celtics in 2017. As a result, he understands the challenges posed to international rookies, and those challenges will likely be even more pronounced for Sengun and Garuba — who are only 19 years old and much younger than Theis was upon making the NBA transition.
“It’s like a different ballgame over here,” Theis said. “You’ve seen it this summer when team USA players commented about FIBA, how to score and to play. It’s definitely more physical. But it’s also, the game over here is faster. In Europe, you play a system, you kind of play the shot clock longer. Here, if you got open shots, you take it. You play fast.”
“This year, our goal is to play fast. We have athletic guys. That’s the biggest adjustment, how fast the game is compared to Europe.”
For the young Rockets to play as fast as they want in the 2021-22 season, Theis believes that getting stops on defense is crucial. That’s where the role of a big man becomes especially important, Theis says:
I can be a defensive anchor. Like in Boston or in Chicago a little bit, the center always sees everything. Like in pick-and-roll, I’ve got to be vocal. I’ve got to be loud and protect my teammates. Mistakes are going to happen. For me, just be there, help my teammates out.
Defense is about communication, trust. If you make mistakes, it happens. But you can’t [not] talk and communicate. Like, if a big guy doesn’t call out the screen, you get your teammate hurt. If we can get stops, we can play fast.
As for the players, including those international rookies, Theis said his advice is fairly simple. “Be like a sponge,” he said. “Just absorb everything you see. Even in practice, when you are standing on the sideline for a drill, it’s important you see everything and learn. Ask questions. Also, for me as a veteran guy now, try to talk to them as much as possible.”
In his last two NBA seasons, Theis has played in 130 games, starting 115. The 6-foot-8 big man has averaged 9.4 points (55.3% FG, 32.7% on 3-pointers) and 6.0 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game, and Boston’s teams routinely ranked among the league leaders on defense during his three completed years with the franchise.
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