“I’m happy and grateful to be back,” said recently-reunited Boston Celtic Daniel Theis of the team that had just traded to get the same player they had dealt away at the previous trade deadline, and before any reporter could even get a question in to the veteran big man about his return to the team.
Theis, who was dealt to the Chicago Bulls as a last-minute deal to duck underneath the luxury tax at this stage of the 2020-21 NBA season, was speaking with the media in Boston for the first time since being dealt back to the Celtics from the Houston Rockets on Thursday.
“I was kind of relieved,” said the German big man of how he felt when he got the news he’d been traded back to Boston.
“It just didn’t work out for me like I planned it (in Houston),” he explained.
“In my mind, if I get traded, I wanted to come back here (to Boston). I’m just happy to be back here. I’ll leave Houston, this part, behind me and just look forward to the rest of the season.”
Asked if he felt rejuvenated with the minimal playing time he had on a rebuilding Rockets roster as his fellow Celtics frontcourt vet Al Horford did after his time in a similar situation with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Theis laughed.
“First of all, Al’s got way more years on his back in this league than me. But obviously, yeah — you can take care of your body while not playing, but on the other side, it also takes you a little bit to get into gaming shape. Where you can work out, you can lift, you can do whatever.”
But, as soon as you’re out there in a game,” he added, “it’s a whole different story.”
Celtics fans should have their first shot at seeing Theis with this version of the team against the Sixers on Tuesday night.
And with that, we’ll get a good look at whether the German is right about needing live game action to stay on top of his play, as it will be his first such contest since January 14.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!
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