One other free agent heart is returning to Boston, in response to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who studies (via Twitter) that Xavier Tillman has agreed to a two-year cope with the Celtics. It’ll be a completely assured minimal wage contract, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter links).
Tillman is the third Celtics free agent massive man to achieve a contract settlement with the crew because the begin of free company, becoming a member of teammates Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta. 13 of the 15 gamers who completed the 2023-24 season on the Celtics’ customary roster now seem poised to return for 2024-25, with solely Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett unsigned.
Tillman spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in Memphis earlier than being despatched to the Celtics at February’s commerce deadline. The 25-year-old didn’t see a ton of motion down the stretch in Boston, averaging 4.0 factors, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 13.7 minutes per contest throughout 20 common season appearances. He then logged simply 69 complete playoff minutes throughout the crew’s title run.
Nonetheless, Tillman is a stable inside defender who confirmed in Memphis that he was able to taking part in a barely bigger function than the one he had in Boston.
Whereas the Celtics may have no scarcity of frontcourt choices with Kornet and Queta additionally returning, Kristaps Porzingis is predicted to overlook at the very least the primary month or two of the season whereas recovering from leg surgical procedure and the crew gained’t need to lean too closely on Al Horford, so there can be minutes obtainable.