Tillman experienced an interesting season in 2023-24. The big man began the season in Memphis and started five games. He then missed most of November due to a knee issue. Tillman returned in December to a Grizzlies squad that would eventually become decimated by injuries. With Memphis facing an 18-33 record at the deadline, the Griz dealt Tillman to the Celtics for draft picks and Lamar Stevens. Tillman again experienced knee issues in February, which caused a slow start to his Celtics career. He didn't see real minutes as a Celtic until March. But then Tillman appeared in 16 of Boston's last 18 regular-season games and averaged 14.1 minutes per contest, with two starts. Boston then shrunk its rotation during its championship playoff run. Tillman appeared in only eight postseason games and averaged a modest 8.6 minutes of run over those contests. Still, the 25-year-old earned a championship ring, something that certainly wasn't going to happen in Memphis. The C's return essentially the same roster for 2024-25, leaving Tillman as a reserve. But Kristaps Porzingis will be out through November and possibly much of December due to offseason foot surgery. That means Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Tillman should all see more minutes at the five. At 38 years of age, Horford will still skip the second of back-to-backs. That leaves Kornet and Tillman with the occasional opportunity to see big minutes. Even when the injury-riddled Unicorn returns, he's no lock to play every night. Overall, Tillman's playing time will be erratic, with a mix of both starts and DNP's. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a two-year, $4.78 million contract with the Celtics in July of 2024.
Personal Bio/PreCareer Summary
Xavier Tillman Sr. was born January 12, 1999 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the son of Tanya Powell-May and Roosevelt Tillman. Tanya played college basketball at the University of Michigan, earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors and left as the program's all-timer leader in rebounds. Xavier has three older brothers and a younger sister. Tillman was 6-foot-5 when he was 14 years old and attended Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids. After two years at Forest Hills, Tillman transferred to Grand Rapids Christian. At the close of his senior year, Tillman was a finalist for the Mr. Basketball of Michigan award and was named an Associate Press Class A First Team All-State member. The 6-foot-8 forward played three years of basketball at Michigan State (2017-2020) before declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft. Tillman studied journalism at Michigan State. Fans can follow the former Spartan on Twitter @Rookiedunker. Tilliam attended Michigan State for three years from 2017 to 2020. As a freshman, he came off the bench and posted a modest 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game. At the end of the season, he was the recipient of MSU's Most Improved Player Award and co-recipient of the Unsung Player Award. As a sophomore, Tillman started the last 14 of 39 games and increased his production to 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per contest. He was also named the 2019 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and helped the Spartans reach the Final Four of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Tillman was a regular starter for MSU during the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season and averaged a double-double of 13.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He led the team in rebounds and blocks and with Cassius Winston led the squad to a 22-9 record, before declaring for the 2020 NBA Draft.
Muted role continues
FBoston Celtics
December 5, 2024
Tillman totaled two rebounds and one steal over eight minutes during Wednesday's 130-120 victory over the Pistons.
ANALYSIS Tillman suited up for just the second time in the past four games, failing to score in eight minutes. It's been a rough start to the season for Tillman, who is typically utilized as the third- or even fourth-string center. To this point, he is averaging a mere 1.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game.
2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Starting/Off Bench
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Days Rest
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - Vs Opp
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2024 NBA Per Game Split Stats - By Result
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Advanced Stats
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2020
Stat Review
How does Xavier Tillman compare to other players?
This section compares his stats with all players from the previous three seasons (minimum 200 minutes played)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
True Shooting %
An advanced statistic that measures a player's efficiency at shooting the ball that takes field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three point percentage into account.
Effective Field Goal %
A statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points.
3-Point Attempt Rate
Percentage of field goal attempts from three point range.
Free Throw Rate
Number of free throw attempts per field goal attempt.
Offensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Defensive Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Total Rebound %
An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while they were on the floor.
Assist %
An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while they were on the floor.
Steal %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while they were on the floor.
Block %
An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while they were on the floor.
Turnover %
An estimate of turnovers committed per 100 plays.
Usage %
An estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while they were on the floor.
Fantasy Points Per Game
NBA Fantasy Points Per Game.
Fantasy Points Per Minute
NBA Fantasy Points Per Minute.
True Shooting %
32.3%
Effective Field Goal %
31.5%
3-Point Attempt Rate
55.6%
Free Throw Rate
7.4%
Offensive Rebound %
5.4%
Defensive Rebound %
19.8%
Total Rebound %
12.5%
Assist %
5.3%
Steal %
1.2%
Block %
1.9%
Turnover %
12.8%
Usage %
10.1%
Fantasy Points Per Game
5.4
Fantasy Points Per Minute
0.6
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Total
Per Game
Per 36
NBA Historical Fantasy Stats
How are these ratings calculated?
Our historical fantasy ratings are standard scores calculated using 8-Category settings with 12 teams and 13 players per team.
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NBA Per Game Historical Fantasy Stats
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NBA Per 36 Historical Fantasy Stats
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Historical ADP
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Celtics Depth Chart
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Average Fantasy Points are determined when Xavier Tillman was active vs. non-active during the season. Click here to view average fantasy points for a different time period.
Minutes
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo
FantasyDraft
Head2Head
Sorare
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Xavier Tillman See More
Alex Barutha walks through the most fantasy relevant players beginning the season on the injury report. Big names include Devin Vassell, Kristaps Porzingis and Mitchell Robinson.
Alex Barutha analyzes nearly every contract signed and every trade made during the 2024 NBA free agency period.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
Tillman played a key role for the Grizzlies last season, largely thanks to the fact that others around him missed time due to injury. In 19.3 minutes per night, he averaged a career-high 7.0 points, adding 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals. Although Brandon Clarke (Achilles) is likely to miss the entire 2023-24 season, Tillman's path to minutes remains a little uncertain. He should serve as the primary backup behind Steven Adams, although the Grizzles are almost certainly going to afford Jaren Jackson some minutes at the center spot as well. With a view to him playing no more than 18 minutes per night, Tillman should be seen as someone to target in the later rounds of deeper drafts.
Tillman spent the regular season as a bench contributor for the Grizzlies in a smaller role that he logged as a rookie back in 2020-21. That is due mainly to rookie Ziaire Williams impressing the brass, earning a steady role, and carving out a small chunk of Tillman's action. Tillman did play slightly expanded minutes in the playoffs and started six straight games at one point, though that was primarily due to injuries and alignment tweaks. He enters his third campaign likely bound for a similar role as last season. However, he could be in line for an expanded role right away with Jaren Jackson recovering from a broken foot. His timetable is November-January, but his extensive injury history gives fantasy managers reason to believe he'll return closer to the New Year. From a fantasy perspective, Tillman could be somewhat interesting in deeper formats if he can add minutes and closes the gap on his efficiency from the field closer to the 55.9 percent mark he posted as a rookie after posting a measly 45.3 percent mark last season. Tillman's rookie season saw him rank 135th in fantasy production per 36 minutes and 194th overall, while his per-game rank of 240th lagged a bit behind. Still, that level could be palatable in deeper formats, provided he makes improvements.
The 35th overall pick in last season's draft, expectations were relatively low for Tillman. However, with Jaren Jackson missing most of the season due to a knee injury and Brandon Clarke taking a step back, opportunities opened up for Tillman. He started 12 of his 59 appearances and averaged 6.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 combined steals-plus-blocks in 18.4 minutes. That led to a per-game fantasy rank of 240, though he had impressive per-minute production and ranked 135th in that respect. While fantasy managers have plenty of reason to target the 22-year-old in dynasty formats, redraft leagues might be another story. He'll be definitively behind Steven Adams and Jaren Jackson this season, and he'll still need to compete for playing time with Brandon Clarke and possibly Juancho Hernangomez. Only fantasy managers in deep formats should consider drafting Tillman, and it probably only makes sense with a final pick, but the upside remains low for this season.
Selected early in the second round of the 2020 draft by Sacramento, Tillman was immediately traded to Memphis. He played three years at Michigan State, providing his strongest season in 2019-20. In his final year with the Spartans, Tillman put up a huge stat line of 13.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals per game as a full-time starter, getting it done on both ends of the court. Tillman has got plenty of potential heading into his rookie season, but he'll have a difficult time finding the court in the Grizzlies' talented frontcourt. Tillman will clearly play behind Jaren Jackson, Brandon Clarke and Jonas Valanciunas, and he'll compete with the likes of Gorgui Dieng and Jontay Porter for minutes off the bench. Tillman is an interesting dynasty prospect, but he's not a player to target in redraft formats in leagues of any size this season.
More Fantasy News
Assigned to G League
FMaine Celtics G League (Celtics)
November 18, 2024
Boston assigned Tillman to the G League's Maine Celtics on Monday.
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No production in spot start Friday
FBoston Celtics
November 8, 2024
Tillman played six minutes and logged zero points (0-3 FG, 0-3 3Pt) in Friday's 108-104 overtime win over Brooklyn.
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Starting vs. Brooklyn
FBoston Celtics
November 8, 2024
Tillman is in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Nets, Justin Turpin of WEEI.com reports.
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Sees 15 minutes of run in win
FBoston Celtics
October 25, 2024
Tillman delivered eight points (3-4 FG, 2-3 3Pt), one rebound and one assist across 15 minutes in Thursday's 122-102 win at Washington.
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Primed for impact role off bench
FBoston Celtics
October 14, 2024
Tillman is mentioned as one of several role players who could outperform expectations in the 2024-25 season, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic.
ANALYSIS Tillman has a golden opportunity ahead of him. With Al Horford likely to have plenty of rest in the regular season and Kristaps Porzingis not expected back until midway through the campaign as he rehabs from a foot injury, Tillman will find himself in a more significant role than he's ever had in his NBA career. Even though he's not a floor spacer, Tillman is a capable defender and finisher near the rim and an above-average passer for his size. His contributions as a backup big could be pivotal for the defending champion if it wants to keep things going from a title-winning campaign in 2023-24.