It is no fault of Xavier Tillman Sr. that he acquired misplaced within the shadow of the brilliant, star-studded beginning 5 of the Boston Celtics final season.
Tillman unsurprisingly performed a lesser position as soon as he joined the Celtics on the commerce deadline than he did with the Memphis Grizzlies, averaging 4 factors and a couple of.7 rebounds whereas getting 13.7 minutes per recreation throughout 20 regular-season contests. He performed principally rubbish time in Boston’s run to the Larry O’Brien Trophy however did flash in Sport 3 of the NBA Finals, serving to fill in for the injured Kristaps Porzingis.
However Tillman confirmed sufficient throughout his appearances to realize the belief of Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, and with that might come an opportunity for Tillman to place his stamp extra on this season as an alternative of being relegated deep into Boston’s bench.
“I assumed it was an incredible transition (after the commerce),” Mazzulla informed reporters earlier than the Celtics left for Abu Dhabi for 2 preseason video games towards the Denver Nuggets, per the Boston Herald’s Zack Cox. “I assumed he is actually good, and he picked up on stuff straight away. And so it is actually nice that we’ve him initially of the 12 months as a result of I feel it helps our versatility. However the transition was nice, and it is seamless. It looks like now he is been right here for a very long time, and he is nice at asking questions, however he’ll be integral to what we do.”
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Tillman had the chance to hunt a much bigger position elsewhere as a free agent this offseason. He selected to stick with the Celtics on a modest two-year, $4.8 million deal.
Maybe the 25-year-old noticed what Mazzulla envisioned with the opportunity of extra enjoying time with Boston this season. If the Celtics have any kind of weak spot, it’s their depth at heart, particularly with Porzingis working his method again from a “uncommon” ankle harm — he is anticipated to return someday in December — and the Celtics making an attempt to not put an excessive amount of of a workload on 38-year-old Al Horford.
That may create a possibility for Tillman, who’s most recognized for his defensive versatility, together with fellow backup bigs Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta. And the Celtics certainly would not be stunned if Tillman seizes the possibility in entrance of him.
“On the courtroom, (Tillman is) a man that is in a position to defend fairly properly. Can defend out within the perimeter. That has good instincts,” Horford informed reporters, per Cox. “Off the courtroom, he is blended proper in with our group. He is tremendous easygoing. It is simply good to have him round. It has been like an ideal match, truthfully, him being right here, him being with us. He is about the precise issues. He is making an attempt to play to win. When you could have guys like that, it is very simple to come back out right here and play.”
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