After it was reported that the Boston Celtics had signed French center Vincent Poirier, Boston’s center depth was three-deep with he, Robert Williams III and Enes Kanter; at that point, it would have been easy to assume that the Celtics were done adding centers to their roster unless they were there for a Summer League or training camp deal.
Yet, not even 48 hours after the start of free ageny, Boston has added a third center, opting to re-sign big man Daniel Theis (per ESPN’s Wojnarowski) for two years and $10 million.
What separates Theis from Kanter and Poirier is his skillset and size. In comparison to the two traditional big men, Theis is more of a stretch-big man and is far less imposing in the middle standing at just 6-foot-9. Kanter, well-regarded for his offensive presence in the paint, is 6-foot-11. Poirier, who has drawn similar distinctions for his inside game, is 7-foot-0.
With the combination of his height, skillset and sneaky athleticism, Theis is able to play power forward as well. When the Celtics want to have a bigger frontcourt, as they’ve been wont to do under Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, Theis is going to be one of the better options for Boston. Williams, who’ll enter his second season with the Celtics, can also play power forward and has shown flashes of being able to stretch the floor and be a facilitator.
However, Williams has yet to prove himself at the level of Theis and that could also have played a part in Boston’s decision to bring the German forward-center back. So too could free agent combo forward Marcus Morris’ approach to the offseason and the chance that the Celtics can’t re-sign him.
