Career
Standing at 7 feet 3 inches (221 m), he plays at the center position. Europe
Pleiß joined RheinEnergie Köln (a year later they changed their name to Köln 99ers) of the German Bundesliga as a 17-year-old in 2006. He played with the club for three years, playing in the 2008 Eurocup.
After the season ended, he joined the Brose Baskets where he played for three years.
On June 24, 2012, Pleiß left Germany and signed a four-year contract with the Spanish club Saski Baskonia, one of the top teams of the Liga ACB. In the 2013-2014 season, he averaged 12.4 points on 58.3 percent shooting and 6.0 rebounds in 21.8 minutes per game. He left Baskonia after two years.
On August 11, 2014, he signed a two-year contract with the Spanish club Football Club Barcelona. In the 2014-2015 ACB season, he averaged 5.7 points and 3.8 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game while shooting 62.3 percent from the floor.
In July 2015, he broke the contract with Barcelona, in order to sign in the National Basketball Association. National Basketball Association
Pleiß declared for the 2010 National Basketball Association draft.
He was drafted by the New Jersey Nets, who traded his rights to the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks then sold his rights to the Oklahoma City Thunder. In February 2015, his draft rights were traded to the Utah Jazz as part of a three-team trade.
On July 14, 2015, Pleiß signed a multi-year deal with the Utah Jazz.
During his rookie season, he has received multiple assignments to the Idaho Stampede, Utah"s Doctorate-League affiliate. He played for the German junior national teams at the 2007 International Basketball Federation Europe Under-18 Championship and at both the 2008 International Basketball Federation Europe Under-20 Championship Division B and the 2009 International Basketball Federation Europe Under-20 Championship.
He first played for the senior team at International Basketball Federation EuroBasket 2009, and saw action in three games. He was also in the German team that participated in the 2010 International Basketball Federation World Championship in Turkey, where he was the starting center for Germany.
He also played at the International Basketball Federation EuroBasket 2011 and the International Basketball Federation EuroBasket 2013.