Xavier Tillman's Role

[Vermont Green]

How would you know how well he is practicing or how much effort he is putting into it ? We don't know.

As far as Tillman not being athletic enough, if they think that, why acquire him to begin with and then why keep him another season ?

We are good enough to give the guy regular playing time and our core needs less minutes anyway.
Joe is gonna run Tatum and Brown into the ground. Tatum is near the top of the league in minutes, never mind the recent late season runs and the Olympic and USA Basketball participation. It's good he is being rested presently through the current break in the schedule.

I am not sure where you are trying to go with this.  It is true that fans can't see what Tillman is doing in practice but he has had opportunities including 1 start.  He simply has not been good.  25% overall shooting and 19% from 3.  One of the worst plus/minus stats on the team, only Peterson, Scheierman, Springer, and Davison are worse.  Playing Tillman more is not going to mean less minutes for Tatum or Brown if that is the argument.  Maybe less minutes for Porzingis or Horford but Kornet and Queta are clearly better options for back up big minutes.

Tillman is a disappointment.  I expected him to improve over last season but it has been the opposite, he has regressed.  I don't know if he has a physical issue or if he just has the yipps or he just isn't that good or what, but based on what I have seen, there is no reason to be playing him over Kornet or Queta.  If anything, he should be down in the G-League with Scheierman and Watson and the others proving himself.

[Big333223]

How would you know how well he is practicing or how much effort he is putting into it ? We don't know.

As far as Tillman not being athletic enough, if they think that, why acquire him to begin with and then why keep him another season ?

We are good enough to give the guy regular playing time and our core needs less minutes anyway.
Joe is gonna run Tatum and Brown into the ground. Tatum is near the top of the league in minutes, never mind the recent late season runs and the Olympic and USA Basketball participation. It's good he is being rested presently through the current break in the schedule.

I am not sure where you are trying to go with this.  It is true that fans can't see what Tillman is doing in practice but he has had opportunities including 1 start.  He simply has not been good.  25% overall shooting and 19% from 3.  One of the worst plus/minus stats on the team, only Peterson, Scheierman, Springer, and Davison are worse.  Playing Tillman more is not going to mean less minutes for Tatum or Brown if that is the argument.  Maybe less minutes for Porzingis or Horford but Kornet and Queta are clearly better options for back up big minutes.

Tillman is a disappointment.  I expected him to improve over last season but it has been the opposite, he has regressed.  I don't know if he has a physical issue or if he just has the yipps or he just isn't that good or what, but based on what I have seen, there is no reason to be playing him over Kornet or Queta.  If anything, he should be down in the G-League with Scheierman and Watson and the others proving himself.

I think it's physical. By reputation, he's a great guy, hard worker, and smart player. I think he's dealing with a chronic injury that started back in Memphis.

He was dealing with "swelling" last year that we didn't hear about until after the season ended. The way he's being used and the way he's playing, I don't think the procedure he had this summer fixed the problem.

[Goldstar88]

How would you know how well he is practicing or how much effort he is putting into it ? We don't know.

As far as Tillman not being athletic enough, if they think that, why acquire him to begin with and then why keep him another season ?

We are good enough to give the guy regular playing time and our core needs less minutes anyway.
Joe is gonna run Tatum and Brown into the ground. Tatum is near the top of the league in minutes, never mind the recent late season runs and the Olympic and USA Basketball participation. It's good he is being rested presently through the current break in the schedule.

Joe Mazzulla looked down at the stat sheet following Boston?s win at Washington and stressed that Tillman Sr. should?ve had more offensive rebounds. He?s averaging 2.2 per 36 minutes, slightly below his rate from the past three seasons, while his struggles around the rim show in a 33.3% FG.

Tatum and brown, both in their 20?s are playing 36mpg. They aren?t being run into the ground at all.

[Phantom255x]

So is Tillman just a lost cause this season? Idk if he's hurt or just has regressed entirely but it's a little disappointing that he can't even find any role on this team. He was a solid 3rd big for us in last year's postseason but now will we be forced to trade for one at the deadline?

[Vermont Green]

So is Tillman just a lost cause this season? Idk if he's hurt or just has regressed entirely but it's a little disappointing that he can't even find any role on this team. He was a solid 3rd big for us in last year's postseason but now will we be forced to trade for one at the deadline?

I fear he is a lost cause.  He has looked entirely overmatched all season, even in garbage time.  It does not look to me that he has it.  I don't know what happened.  But something did, either physically or mentally.  He is having a hard time beating out Drew Peterson for minutes.

That said, I think the big man rotation is fine if Porzingis is healthy.  I know, a big...
 IF.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Trade Tillman and 2nd rounder(s) for Theis.

[Silas]

Trade Tillman and 2nd rounder(s) for Theis.

Sounds good to me, plus Theis is only 32.

[tenn_smoothie]

Trade Tillman and 2nd rounder(s) for Theis.

Is that possible with our "2nd apron" status ? Would New Orleans even have interest ?
They badly need frontcourt depth with Williamson, who is even more injury prone than Porzingis.

[ozgod]

Trade Tillman and 2nd rounder(s) for Theis.

Is that possible with our "2nd apron" status ? Would New Orleans even have interest ?
They badly need frontcourt depth with Williamson, who is even more injury prone than Porzingis.

The answer to the first question is (thankfully) yes. Because X is making $2.2m and Daniel is making $2m, so we would be taking $200k less salary than we are sending out.



As for the second question, that's a tough one...its always hard to compare production from deep bench players who play sporadically but here's their production this year:



The eye test tells me that Theis is not the same Theis that we had back in 2018-19...there's a reason he's being shipped around the league now. X is younger, quicker, and can defend on the perimeter better. It's just unfortunate for him that he's behind KP, Al, Kornet, and now Queta in the depth chart. He's a deep bench piece, that's what I see his role is. I think he will get more PT as the season progresses.

[Big333223]

I don't think Theis is an upgrade over Kornet or Queta right now. I'd rather trade Tillman for a big wing. I don't know if that player is out there/available to the C's but a bench wing who can play the 3/4 would be ideal.

[liam]

I don't think Theis is an upgrade over Kornet or Queta right now. I'd rather trade Tillman for a big wing. I don't know if that player is out there/available to the C's but a bench wing who can play the 3/4 would be ideal.

Tillman makes the minimum so I'm unsure what you get for him. I was surprised Joe didn't give Tillman a shot at guarding Randle... I like Tillman but he needs some reps to really be available... When he gets put in for a few minutes with the deep bench he looks lost.

[Phantom255x]

If Tillman really has no role for us outside of being like the 15th man, I'd just trade him. I keep thinking we'll see a little more of him at some point but we haven't.

Theis may not be better than Kornet/Queta but is he better than Tillman? I personally think Tillman's better but evidently that's not the case this season. Theis can at least space the floor, make some 3s, and eat some minutes but also has experience in this organization.

My dream scenario is still Springer + pick(s) for Day'Ron Sharpe, then sign Lonnie Walker. But Theis as like a Plan B or C isn't bad. 

[Surferdad]

If Tillman really has no role for us outside of being like the 15th man, I'd just trade him. I keep thinking we'll see a little more of him at some point but we haven't.

Theis may not be better than Kornet/Queta but is he better than Tillman? I personally think Tillman's better but evidently that's not the case this season. Theis can at least space the floor, make some 3s, and eat some minutes but also has experience in this organization.

My dream scenario is still Springer + pick(s) for Day'Ron Sharpe, then sign Lonnie Walker. But Theis as like a Plan B or C isn't bad.

Tillman is rotting on the vine here. He needs to go somewhere where he can get minutes.

[Atzar]

Tillman has sucked this year.  Whatever mobility he had on defense has vanished, and he was never an offensive threat at the best of times - even worse now.  He just isn't that guy who put in good work against AD in the playoffs a few years ago. 

It's not like we're doing him wrong somehow by not playing him.  He's on the pine because he's not good enough to play.  And I wouldn't assume that he has any trade value either - other teams will have tape of his struggles too. 

It is what it is.  He's just on a minimum, and Kornet and Queta have generally been solid enough, so it's not a big miss. 

[radiohead]

I don't think Theis is an upgrade over Kornet or Queta right now. I'd rather trade Tillman for a big wing. I don't know if that player is out there/available to the C's but a bench wing who can play the 3/4 would be ideal.

Tillman makes the minimum so I'm unsure what you get for him. I was surprised Joe didn't give Tillman a shot at guarding Randle... I like Tillman but he needs some reps to really be available... When he gets put in for a few minutes with the deep bench he looks lost.

The question is did Tillman settle for the minimum just to be able to stay in Boston? I don?t think he envisioned himself being an end of bench player in his second season with the team, after carving out a pretty decent role previously. I surely hope we didn?t do him bad during the negotiations.