The wait of a bitterly spurned world champion
Daniel Theis was one of the key players in the German national basketball team's World Cup gold medal and wanted to carry the momentum into his seventh NBA season. But the German is still hardly playing a role for the Indiana Pacers - a frustrating situation for the veteran.
Eight minutes. Four attempts from the field. Two points. That's what basketball world champion Daniel Theis has scored so far for the Indiana Pacers in the current 2023/24 season, which has now lasted almost three weeks. The team from the Central Division has now played nine games, winning six of them. Theis has only made one appearance, in last Friday's 126:124 home win against the Milwaukee Bucks.
His only points so far: a furious dunk after a pick-and-roll with All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who set up the German in exemplary fashion. Theis almost picked up the dreaded "DNP" ("Did Not Play") mark in the match report on Thursday, which Indiana's coach Rick Carlisle has now given him eight times - a more than frustrating situation for the veteran, who continues to play virtually no role at all in the Eastern Conference team.
It was only thanks to Jalen Smith's very late withdrawal due to a back complaint that Theis was able to play at all against Milwaukee. He played solid defense against superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and helped the offense score important points in the third quarter. A rarity so far: of the 15 players in the squad, no Pacers player has been on the floor less than the 31-year-old, who has been with the club for just over a year and a half and has only played eight games for a total of 117 minutes. Theis is the second-oldest player in the team behind TJ McConnell; ten Pacers are 25 years old or younger.
"Not happy"
"Of course I'm not happy with the current situation after a great summer," Theis recently revealed to Brian Robb, a reporter from Boston, where Theis began his NBA career in 2017 and wore Celtics green for a total of five seasons. "I want to play, I want to take the momentum from the summer into the new season. But a season like this is long, so we'll see what happens."
Theis and Indiana are somehow not getting off the ground. Arriving from Boston in the summer of 2022 via a trade for Malcolm Brogdon, Theis struggled with knee problems for a long time at the start of the pre-season. He only made his debut for the new team months later, on February 2 of this year. After just seven appearances, in which Theis averaged 7.0 points and 3.1 rebounds, he was sidelined. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle preferred to analyze and develop young players, with veterans like the German not getting any playing time at all in the final weeks of the season, while the Pacers missed the play-offs for the third time in a row.
This phenomenon has not changed this year. Carlisle continues to rely on pace, threes and youth. Theis only ranks fourth in the center hierarchy behind starters Myles Turner, Isaiah Jackson and Jalen Smith - and thus only watches night after night instead of being thrown into the action by the coach. They do communicate, says Theis, but the coach makes the final decision. "I stay ready and do my thing. Whatever happens, will happen," says the Salzgitter native.
The problem in Indy
"Jalen Smith has earned the position of backup thanks to a very good preseason that he's shown, and he's played very well so far," said Carlisle, who won the NBA title as head coach of Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, explaining his personnel decision at the big positions. "Daniel is a very good player who we respect a lot here. Of course he doesn't like to sit on the bench, but he remains very professional."
Neither Smith nor starter Turner or the other backup Jackson are known as NBA iron men. Plagued by injuries time and again, the three big men cannot always be relied upon. Looking at their respective medical records, absences over the course of the six-month regular season are almost inevitable. Indiana may not currently have a playing need for Theis and his honest work under the boards and in defense - but that doesn't mean it will stay that way for the rest of the season.
"He's working and training very hard to be ready. We'll probably need him at some point," says Carlisle, who at 64 and with more than three decades of coaching experience in the NBA has seen pretty much everything, knows all too well how quickly fortunes can change. It doesn't take long to twist your ankle or end up in the league's concussion protocol for days on end. That's also one of the main reasons why the Pacers aren't urgently looking for a trade for Theis at the moment - although it never hurts to listen to offers from other teams, of course. This is complicated by the contract structure of many new deals: they can only be negotiated in December or put together with other deals in a trade package. The trade deadline is February 8, 2024.
Key player for historic gold
"I can't speak for the Indiana Pacers, but he was fantastic for us," said Orlando's Franz Wagner about his national team colleague after the game against the Atlanta Hawks in Mexico City. "We definitely won't win the World Cup without his performance. He's been fantastic all summer and I hope the best for him. Of course I want to see him play."
Theis, who averaged 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds with an impressive 59% shooting percentage from the field, was one of the key players in the German national team's historic World Cup gold medal win in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines a few months ago. His best performance came in the semi-final against the USA, where the center was Germany's top scorer and one of the emotional alphas with 21 points and seven rebounds.
At the time, Theis emphasized to n-tv.de how fit he felt and how much fun it was for him to play in a real team. "The team is absolutely in the foreground. When you play successfully and win together, it makes it all the more fun to be on the pitch and play together." The fact that he is an excellent team-mate is also attested to in Indianapolis, where he is always professional, positive and friendly despite his pent-up frustration about his personal situation.
What to do with the world champion?
Theis, who earns 9.1 million US dollars in the third season of his four-year deal, only has a fixed contract for the current season. His team holds an option for the upcoming 2024-25 season. Contracts of this size are not necessarily non-negotiable in the NBA, but are usually aggregated to allow for larger deals. Would a team in search of another big man be willing to sacrifice young players and possibly draft picks to engineer a trade? And if so, which team?
Clubs like the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies are dealing with major injury concerns in the frontcourt. The Californians lost backup center Mason Plumlee, who suffered a serious knee injury and will be out for up to two months, right after their mega-trade for James Harden, which gave up depth in the squad. Behind starter Ivica Zubac, the center and power forward positions are already very thin. That's one of the main reasons why the Clippers have reportedly already called Indiana to inquire about Theis' availability - and price, of course.
The Grizzlies are also nibbling hard at the loss of their big men Steven Adams, his backup Brandon Clarke and Xavier Tillmann - but recently strengthened themselves with Bismack Biyombo and therefore no longer have the final urgency. Toronto is also looking for a replacement big. When it comes to Dennis Schröder's team, the German basketball fan can easily imagine a reunion of the congenial DBB duo, who have known each other since their youthful days in Braunschweig.
Should Indiana not be satisfied with the trade offers for Theis, a "buyout" would also be an option: players in the last year of their contract are often bought out of their existing deal to give them the opportunity to get playing time elsewhere that they cannot find with their current team. This is usually done with experienced veterans so they can join an interested team of their choice. So if Carlisle and the Pacers haven't found a deal for Theis or a need for his athletic contribution on the floor by the February trading deadline at the latest, this solution would probably be the best for everyone involved.
Despite being a vital part of the German national basketball team's World Cup gold medal win, Daniel Theis is barely seeing court time with the Indiana Pacers. His limited playing time has resulted in just eight games and 117 minutes in the current NBA season.
As a World Cup champion and a significant player for the German national team, Theis' limited role with the Pacers has been a frustrating situation for the veteran. Despite his professional attitude, he expressed his dissatisfaction about the current situation.
Source: www.ntv.de
