Xavier Tillman Traded To The Boston Celtics

Xavier Tillman Traded To The Boston Celtics

Xavier Tillman is officialy shipping up to Boston! The Celtics are acquiring the former Memphis Grizzlies big man for two second-round picks. He provides the C’s with some important frontcourt depth as they load up for an NBA Finals run. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN broke the news:

The Memphis Grizzlies are trading F/C Xavier Tillman to the Boston Celtics for two second-round picks, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 7, 2024

The 6-foot-8 stretch five out of Michigan State is a shrewd pickup for Brad Stevens. Averaging a career-high 20.6 minutes per game for a depleted Grizzlies team, he is putting up respectable numbers for a big man off the bench. 6.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists to go with a steal and block every game will definitely play on this squad. Obviously, you are not asking him to put the ball in the bucket. He is a hardworking player who won’t cheat you with effort on defense or the glass. It’s also important depth when guys like Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford need a night off.

For Memphis, this is hardly a surprise. As soon as Ja Morant went down for the season their playoff chances just about evaporated. Adding another two second-round picks, which could help either in the drafts or future trade capital, makes a whole lot of sense here.

What’s Next?

Ironically enough, Trey made a post about Neemias Queta‘s emergence and why Brad Stavens should make a roster spot for him. Now, they’re gonna have to have another ready for Tillman. At 38-12 they have the luxury of only needing to add complimentary pieces. The main stars, or “Core Four” if you’d like to think of it, has done their jobs so far. Almost everyone knew they would be good enough to secure home-court advantage for all of the playoffs. They have met expectations, but the important ones start after Game 82.

While they would likely benefit from adding another guard or wing, it looks difficult right now. They are almost $8 million over the second apron of the salary cap. Sure, the buyout market is a possibility, but Boston will almost have to subtract in order to add anymore at this point.

In rather unsurprising news, the Boston Celtics are loading up for a deep playoff run. Xavier Tillman is a solid bench piece and insurance for their main rotation big men.

UPDATE: An important detail for this trade that emerged later is that Lamar Stephens will head to Memphis along with those two second-round picks. It will give the Celtics some crucial flexibility as they look to continue finishing off their roster before Thursday’s trade deadline. The questio now becomes who will Boston add? Keith Smith of Spotrac took to X with more details:

With Lamar Stevens headed to the Memphis, the math changes on the Xavier Tillman deal for Boston:

-Celtics will use Lamar Stevens as salary-matching for Tillman. (And they'll create a comically small, and unusable TPE for Stevens.)

-Celtics will still have the full Grant…

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 7, 2024

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