with the Kansas City Kings and Kansas City won 12 of their first 17 games after Theus joined the team. He averaged 16.4 points and 8.0 assists in 30 games with the Kings, as the Kings qualified for the playoffs under Coach Phil Johnson, who had coached Theus in Chicago in 1982,. In the 1984–85 season, the Kings moved to Sacramento, California. In the 1985–86 season, Theus averaged 18.3 points and a career high 9.6 assists as the Kings made the playoffs again, losing to the Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson and the Houston Rockets 3–0 in the first round, as Theus averaged 15.0 points and 6.3 assists in the series. Over his four seasons with the Kings, Theus became a key scorer and distributor, averaging 18.8 points and 8.1 assists in 346 games with the Kings. Later career On June 27, 1988, Theus was traded by the Kings to the Atlanta Hawks with a third round pick for Randy Wittman and a first round pick. He averaged 15.8 points and 4.7 assists for the Hawks in 1988–89, playing in the backcourt with Doc Rivers and alongside Hall of Famers Dominique Wilkins and Moses Malone. Theus helped the Hawks go 52-30 and advance to the playoffs. On June 15, 1989, the expansion Orlando Magic, picked him from the Hawks in the expansion draft. The expansion Magic struggled, finishing 18-64. Theus averaged 18.9 points and 5.4 assists with the Magic. The New Jersey Nets traded a second round pick to acquire Theus on June 25, 1990. In 1990-1991 he averaged a team-leading 18.6 points along with 4.7 assists for the 26-56 Nets. Theus' NBA career ended after his Nets season. Theus had career totals of 19,015 points and 6,453 assists, averaging 18.5 and 6.3 in 1026 NBA games. He played one season in Italy for Ranger Varese before retiring from basketball altogether in 1992. He also played along with Aris in the Greek Cup Final in 1993. In that game he scored 9 points. Theus is one of only two players in league history listed at 6 ft 6 or taller to tally more than 750 assists in an NBA season (788 in 1985–86), the other player is NBA legend Magic Johnson. Coaching career College In 2005, Theus was hired by the New Mexico State Aggies as the head coach of the men's basketball team after the retirement of head coach