The Memphis Grizzlies just earned their second straight win against a team that is a single spot ahead of them in the Western Conference standings. It was a huge win, and they did it without particularly strong play from Jonas Valanciunas.
This may not seem significant, but Valanciunas has been the Grizzlies’ best player for part of this season, so seeing him sidelined in the first matchup and shaking off dust in the first half of the second matchup seemed like a bad sign.
Fortunately, the Grizzlies found a diamond in the rough with their second-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Memphis Grizzlies C Xavier Tillman has looked like an NBA veteran
Jonas Valanciunas hasn’t missed much time this year, but when he has, the Grizzlies have hardly missed a step. They haven’t been the same without the lumbering 6-foot-11 Lithuanian center, but they’ve held their own.
They’ve done it by playing small-ball, allowing an extremely talented group of guards and small forwards to take over the game. It’s the only option for a team without their two starting big men available.
That said, Memphis has received a significant boost in the form of a second-round pick out of Michigan State in Xavier Tillman. Tillman has been instrumental in the Grizzlies’ success this year, even if it doesn’t seem like he has been. At 6-8, Tillman is extremely undersized for a center. There are more than a couple of point guards taller than him.
X doesn’t care.
He plays defense well beyond his size, as seen against the Portland Trail Blazers in back-to-back games. The numbers may not be there to support my argument, but anybody who watched these two games knows how important he has been for Taylor Jenkins.
Tillman is extremely sturdy. When opposing centers like Jusuf Nurkic realize that they’ll be defended by a 6-8 rookie that was drafted in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft, they assume they’ll be feasting. Instead, they usually come away with a sour taste in their mouths.
Tillman has played 19.1 minutes per game as a rookie, and most importantly, he has held his own in the league. He is, without a doubt, the best second-round pick in the draft, even if he doesn’t have the flashiest numbers. He’s a force on the defensive end and does his job on the offensive end.
Sometimes, he does even more than his job, as seen in this tweet by the Memphis Grizzlies.
WHERE MY DAWGS AT??? 🐶@Rookiedunker | #GrzNxtGen pic.twitter.com/5PaeZKqMp0
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) April 25, 2021
Tillman has been a spark plug for this team all year long, bringing energy off of the bench and maintaining a veteran presence, even if it’s his first year in the league. Perhaps the maturity comes from having two kids at such a young age, a sign that he’s ready for the responsibility of being a big-time NBA player.
The best part? He’s just another diamond in the rough found by this Memphis Grizzlies front office.