Daniel Theis

During the 2019-20 season, Theis transitioned from helpful reserve to reliable starter. In Theis' first two seasons in Boston, he started five of 129 games. But last year, Theis started 64 of 72 regular season games and all 17 playoff games for Boston. His playing time expanded to 24.1 minutes per contest, which led to career highs in points (9.2), rebounds (6.6), blocks (1.3) and three-pointers (0.5) per game. That said, Theis was the fifth option on offense for a Boston squad usually sporting Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker as his fellow starters. And now that Boston has added Tristan Thompson, a slight improvement over departed Enes Kanter, Theis could see a slight dip in playing time. Expect Theis to have the upper hand over Thompson as the starter to begin the season, especially with the shortened off-season. Also, hopefully, Theis can continue to avoid the injury issues that plagued the German center during his first two seasons with the Celtics.