{"id":124190,"date":"2025-02-17T10:05:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=124190"},"modified":"2025-02-17T10:05:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T15:05:26","slug":"daniel-theis-monaco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/17\/daniel-theis-monaco\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Veteran Ditches Contenders for EuroLeague"},"content":{"rendered":"

What was announced several days ago as likely finally became a reality. Daniel Theis<\/a> has officially signed with Monaco and decided to play in the EuroLeague. Despite some interest from contenders, Theis wanted a fresh start in Europe.<\/p>\n

NBA Veteran Ditches Contenders for EuroLeague<\/h2>\n

Theis is an eight-year veteran in the league with career averages of 7.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. He has previous experience of playing in Europe. Before coming to the NBA, he played professionally in Germany. There were rumors that he would sign with an EuroLeague team<\/a> several days ago, and now it is official.<\/p>\n

Theis was part of the German basketball team that won the World Cup<\/a> in 2023 after upsetting the United States in the semifinals and defeating Serbia in the finals. He was traded earlier this month by the New Orleans Pelicans to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a salary dump move. OKC then waived him. After clearing waivers, he became a free agent, leaving the door open to sign with Monaco and play in the EuroLeague.<\/p>\n

Daniel Theis Feels Wanted in Monaco<\/h3>\n

One of the reasons why Theis left the NBA for the EuroLeague is former player and now coach, Vassilis Spanoulis<\/a>. In an interview with the new club, the former NBA player said<\/a>,<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s clear that Coach Spanoulis played an important role in my decision. We got in touch pretty quickly\u2014he called me. We talked about what I can bring to the team, and he appreciated my ability to win in basketball. I just wanted to be part of his project in Monaco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking about what he can bring to the team, Daniel talked about his ability to defend. Again, he emphasized that coach Spanoulis liked his skills, saying,<\/p>\n

\u201cI play physically on defense, in pick-and-roll situations. And on offense, I have several skills I can use, including switches and drops. I have a lot of tools in my arsenal, and he liked that. And that\u2019s great. It\u2019s amazing to hear a coach who really wants you, especially one with the success he had as a player and his competitive spirit in basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did Daniel Theis Have NBA Options?<\/h3>\n

Theis is a serviceable backup big man who could have surely made his way on another NBA roster if he wanted to. He has NBA Finals experience with the Boston Celtics in 2022. Teams in the NBA probably couldn\u2019t guarantee him playing time, something he will surely get in Europe.<\/p>\n

Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and New York Knicks could use a center to fill up some minutes. There were even rumors that his former team, the Boston Celtics had interest<\/a>. Theis will likely get more than the 16 minutes per game he played in the NBA this season for New Orleans.<\/p>\n

Injuries Took their Toll<\/h3>\n

The former Pelicans player had three injuries<\/a> in the last four months, including a thumb injury he sustained in January. He also had a neck injury in December and an ankle injury in October. He appeared in 38 games in total for the Pelicans prior to being dealt.<\/p>\n

Going to the EuroLeague means fewer games per week and less strain on his body. This might be the right move for the German player to recover and increase his value going forward. Whether that means a return to the NBA or not, we will wait and see.<\/p>\n

AS Monaco – EuroLeague Haven for Former NBA Players<\/h3>\n

Theis will not be the only former NBA player in Monaco. He will join Nick Calathes<\/a>, Mike James<\/a>, and Donatas Motiejunas<\/a> as the team will try to compete for a title. As of February 17, Monaco is fourth in the standings<\/a>, tied in the loss column with third place Panatinaikos.<\/p>\n

Photo credit: \u00a9 Stephen Lew-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was announced several days ago as likely finally became a reality. Daniel Theis has officially signed with Monaco and decided to play in the EuroLeague. Despite some interest from contenders, Theis wanted a fresh start in Europe. NBA Veteran Ditches Contenders for EuroLeague Theis is an eight-year veteran in the league with career averages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5291,"featured_media":124199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,61,62,33],"tags":[1494,1721],"class_list":["post-124190","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-international-basketball","category-nba","category-pelicans","tag-daniel-theis","tag-euroleague"],"modified_by":"Kenny Kluska","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124190","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5291"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124190"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124200,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124190\/revisions\/124200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}