Daniel Theis last played for Germany at the Olympics. Now he’s back in the squad. Also because he’s moving back to Europe.
For the first time since the Olympic Games in Paris, world champion Daniel Theis is back in the German national basketball team squad. National coach Alex Mumbru has named the 32-year-old for the final European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria in Bamberg on February 23, as announced by the German Basketball Federation (DBB). This Thursday, he will play against Montenegro in Podgorica, without the center.
Theis is reportedly about to leave the NBA for AS Monaco. There has not yet been any official confirmation of his return to Europe. However, Monaco has already been named as his new club in the DBB squad. Just because he no longer plays in the USA, he can still take part in the European Championship qualifiers. NBA pros like Dennis Schröder or Franz Wagner are missing, as they were in November.
Bayern and Alba pros also taking part
Theis moved from Bamberg to the USA in 2017. There he played for the Boston Celtics, the Chicago Bulls, the Houston Rockets, the Indiana Pacers, the Los Angeles Clippers and the New Orleans Pelicans. He was recently traded from the Pelicans to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the franchise around German center Isaiah Hartenstein had no use for him.
Like former NBA pro Theis, the Euroleague players from Alba Berlin and FC Bayern Munich will also meet the new Spanish national team coach for the first time because they were not available in November. Mumbrú took over from world champion coach Gordon Herbert after the Olympics.
Table situation
In the table, Germany, who also named Chris Sengfelder (Dijon) after Theis was injured, are in second place, one point behind Montenegro, after two wins and two losses. Sweden, like the DBB team, have six points. The top three teams in each group of four qualify for the European Championships in Finland, Poland, Cyprus and Latvia from August 27 to September 14.
The DBB squad
Isaac Bonga (Partizan Belgrade/Serbia), Malte Delow (Alba Berlin), Justus Hollatz (FC Bayern Munich), Ivan Kharchenkov (FC Bayern Munich), David Krämer (CB 1939 Canarias/Spain), Jonas Mattisseck (Alba Berlin), Andreas Obst (FC Bayern Munich), Louis Olinde (Alba Berlin), Tibor Pleiß (Trapani Shark/Italy), Tim Schneider (Alba Berlin), Christian Sengfelder (JDA Dijon/France), Daniel Theis (AS Monaco/French league, only the game in Bamberg), Johannes Thiemann (Gunma Crane Thunders/Japan), Johannes Voigtmann (FC Bayern Munich), Nelson Weidemann (ratiopharm Ulm)
