Daniel Theis undergoes successful left knee surgery

The Boston Celtics announced that center Daniel Theis underwent successful surgery on his left knee. It was an arthroscopic surgery for Theis that included removing a loose body in his knee.

The Celtics also said Theis is expected to be fully available for training camp prior to the 2021 season.

In his third NBA season, all with Boston, Theis became the Celtics starting center. He started 64 of the 65 regular season games he played in and all 17 of Boston’s playoff games.

Theis averaged career-highs nearly across the board in 2019-20 with 9.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game. Theis also had solid shooting percentages with 56.5% overall, 33.3% on three-pointers and 76.3% at the free throw line.

Throughout the course of the season, Theis was the only big man to regular be in the rotation for Brad Stevens. During the playoffs, Stevens increasingly relied on Theis, as his playing time increased from 24.1 minutes to 28.4 minutes per game. Several times Theis was called upon to go the distance, or nearly so, in the second half of games.

The German-born big man is under contract with Boston for one more season in 2021. Theis’ $5 million contract is fully non-guaranteed, but most expect the Celtics to fully guarantee his deal shortly before free agency opens.