Celtics cut ties with Jaylen Brown's 6-foot-8 NBA champion teammate via trade to Hornets

The Boston Celtics made a financially-driven trade on Thursday before the 3 p.m. deadline (ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the deal at 4:08 p.m., but it was clearly finalized before then). 

The Celtics cut ties with Jaylen Brown’s 6-foot-8 NBA champion teammate via a trade to the Charlotte Hornets. 

“The Boston Celtics traded Xavier Tillman Sr. to the Charlotte Hornets,” Charania stated on X/Twitter. “This gets the Celtics out of the luxury tax. Hornets get $3.5 million in the deal.”

Tillman, who started his NBA career with the Memphis Grizzlies after spending three seasons with Michigan State at the collegiate level, joined the Celtics via a 2024 trade at the right time. 

The 27-year-old averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game on a Celtics squad that defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, allowing Tillman to secure his first ring. 

Since the Celtics’ commendable championship run, though, Tillman has mostly been a spectator alongside Brown in Boston. Tillman, known for being a second-unit spark plug who can help shift momentum in the Celtics’ favor, is only contributing 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per contest in 7.9 minutes. 

Again, trading Tillman shouldn’t be considered a groundbreaking move. That said, Charania wisely pointed out that moving on from the $4.78 million forward will put them in a better financial position moving forward.

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