The Boston Celtics have re-signed big man Xavier Tillman to a two-year contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Tillman joined the team at the 2024 trade deadline via a deal with the Memphis Grizzlies and averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 20 regular-season games in Boston.
Free agent F Xavier Tillman has agreed on a two-year deal to return to the Boston Celtics, sources tell ESPN. Tillman averaged 5.3 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. pic.twitter.com/Z1510rRVs6
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 2, 2024
Tillman played a small but crucial role in the Celtics’ 2024 NBA Championship run, filling in for an injured Kristaps Porzingis in the NBA Finals. His series was highlighted by an impressive stretch in Game 3 that included multiple defensive stops and a clutch corner three.
“This is something that I’ve been preparing for, I guess for a while now,” Tillman said after his Game 3 performance. “So I was ready for the opportunity. They were kind of hinting at potentially if KP’s workout didn’t go well and he didn’t feel comfortable that I was going to have to step in today.”
The 25-year-old will be entering his fifth NBA season after spending his first four-and-a-half with the Grizzlies.
Alongside Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta, both of whom also signed new deals to return to Boston, Tillman will provide essential relief throughout the course of the 2024-25 regular season.
Kristaps Porzingis just recently underwent a successful surgery to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon and will be out for five to six months. That puts his rough return date around December. Plus, Al Horford is 38 years old and has already been sitting out one game of back-to-backs.
Tillman, Kornet, and Queta will have to fill those gaps, and it’s clear that the Celtics trust them to do so.
At 6-foot-8, Tillman is a bit undersized for the center position, but his defensive versatility allows the Celtics to play a switch-everything defense that thrives when Horford is in the lineup.
“I feel like switching is like my bread-and-butter defensively,” Tillman said after Game 3 of the Finals, where he played a big part in slowing down Luka Doncic. “That’s something that allows me to use my quick feet and my strength to be able to bump guys on versus being in drop coverage and having to use my vertical leap.
“So for me being able to switch and stuff like that is more catered for me. Being able to get subbed in and used for those opportunities, I feel like I can excel [the] majority of the time.”
