Xavier Tillman Sr. Trade: How Could Mavs Pull It Off?

The Memphis Grizzlies have some big decisions coming up when it comes to their frontcourt depth, and the Dallas Mavericks could benefit from Xavier Tillman Sr. being the odd man out.

When looking for potential trades within the NBA landscape, one thing to pay attention to is how there might be an abundance of players on a team playing the same position. Only so many minutes can be distributed among those players, and new contract opportunities arise for some while others are still on rookie deals.

This is a situation the Memphis Grizzlies could be facing with 24-year-old big man Xavier Tillman Sr., who is in the last year of his rookie deal before becoming a free agent next summer. Last season, in 61 games for the Grizzlies, Tillman averaged 7.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks while shooting 61.4 percent from the field. Those numbers are more impressive when you consider that he only averaged 19.3 minutes of playing time per game.

As talented as Tillman is as a forward/center hybrid, Memphis only has so many minutes to hand out due to it's frontcourt depth that includes Jaren Jackson Jr., Steven Adams, Brandon Clarke, David Roddy, Jake LaRavia, Santi Aldama and the up-and-coming Kenneth Lofton Jr. Given that the latter four mentioned there are all still on their rookie deals, it might make more sense for the Grizzlies to trade Tillman now instead of committing more money to him without being able to provide him with a bigger role.

This is where the Dallas Mavericks could come in, as they've been searching for a starting-caliber center all summer. Tillman is just 6-8, but he plays a lot bigger than that with his 7-2 wingspan, and his energy could serve Dallas well.

Per 100 possessions, Tillman has averaged 17.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.2 blocks through three NBA seasons. In 29 starts last season, Tillman averaged 9.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals in 27.3 minutes per game. Those numbers make it seem like Tillman could be ready to break out in a new situation where he’d get more consistent playing time.

Given that Tillman only makes $1.9 million, paired with the fact that the Mavs are a division rival of the Grizzlies, a trade to Dallas could be tricky. However, in theory, a trade involving Josh Green going to Memphis in exchange for Tillman and Josh Christopher could make sense. Since Christopher was recently traded to the Grizzlies, he can't be traded while being aggregated with other players until Sept. 6.

In a perfect world, the Mavs would be able to flip Tim Hardaway Jr. and perhaps even JaVale McGee with second-round draft capital for a veteran starting big man like Atlanta Hawks' Clint Capela. However, that opportunity hasn't presented itself yet, and the Mavs must be open-minded when it comes to improving their center depth.

Dallas has already improved tremendously with the roster moves that have been made this summer. Let's see if they can top it off with one more good move before training camp begins.

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