For the first time since the 2017-18 season, Miles Bridges and Xavier Tillman are teammates.
The former Michigan State stars had an incredible regular season together, but fell short in the second round against Syracuse in one of the biggest upsets of the 2018 NCAA Tournament. That team also had Jaren Jackson Jr. who was Tillman’s good friend and they joined forces in Memphis after Xavier was drafted in 2020.
Tillman was traded to the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday, finally reuniting with Bridges just a couple of years after being traded away from Jackson Jr.
The Boston Celtics traded Xavier Tillman Sr. to the Charlotte Hornets, sources tell ESPN. This gets the Celtics out of the luxury tax. Hornets get $3.5 million in the deal.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026
Tillman’s NBA career hasn’t gone quite as planned after a strong start as a role player for the Grizzlies. He’s become more of an end-of-the-bench guy who’s used in a pinch. But now that he’s getting a fresh start with the Hornets, he could see his minutes increase.
In 14 games this season with the Celtics, Tillman is averaging 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds. He’s been dealing with an injury, so that may have played into his quiet season, but this fresh start with the Hornets can’t hurt, especially since there will be a familiar face with him.
Maybe they’ll recreate some of that 2017-18 regular-season magic.
Xavier Tillman desperately needs a fresh start
Joining one of the hottest teams in the league should be a nice change for Tillman who found hismelf at the very end of the Celtics’ bench even though they’ve been shorthanded this year.
Charlotte is on a seven-game winning streak, and they’ll be playing again on Saturday night against the Atlanta Hawks, and that might be where Tillman has his Hornets debut. He could use this fresh start, especially since Boston pretty much avoided playing him after trading for him in the middle of the 2023-24 season.
Tillman was averaging 20-plus points per game with the Grizzlies before the trade, and Boston played him 13.7 minutes over 20 games to end the 2023-24 campaign. He also averaged just under nine minutes per game over eight playoff appearances that season.
Over the past two full seasons with Boston, he’s played in 47 total games with three starts. He’s scored just 65 points over those 47 games. He’s been mostly ineffective in limited action.
Now he’ll be playing for a Charlotte team that could use some depth. He could be a second or third option at power forward and/or center. Hopefully this rejuvenates him and gets his career back on track. The Hornets just gained a lot of new fans on Thursday because of this trade.