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Andrew Lopez, ESPN
The New Orleans Pelicans are adding veteran center Daniel Theis on a one-year contract, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Monday.
Theis, 31, played in 59 games with LA Clippers after reaching a buyout on his deal with the Indiana Pacers last season. He averaged 6.3 points and 4.1 rebounds with the Clippers.
The Pelicans have to replace nearly all of the team’s minutes at the center position from a season ago. The team lost Jonas Valanciunas in a sign-and-trade to the Washington Wizards and dealt backups Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller to the Atlanta Hawks as a part of the deal to get Dejounte Murray.
New Orleans took center Yves Missi with the No. 21 pick in last month’s NBA draft but did not make any other moves at the position before bringing in Theis.
Theis is set to play with Germany in the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics. He was part of the German squad that won the FIBA World Cup last summer. Theis had 21 points and seven rebounds against the United States in Germany’s semifinal win in that tournament.
He has averaged 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds over 373 games in his seven-year NBA career.