Xavier Tillman Sr. (PF, MEM) - Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 23

March 27, 2023

Xavier Tillman Sr. is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 23 of the 2022-23 NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 7% of leagues

ANALYSIS: With just a week and a half remaining in the regular season and Memphis sitting pretty in the no. 2 seed in the Western Conference, it's hard to envision Steven Adams returning before the playoffs and risking any sort of setback in his recovery. Let alone getting re-injured before the real part of the basketball campaign starts later in April.

Xavier Tillman Sr. has been the main beneficiary of the Kiwi's absence, racking up starts after the All-Star Break, although with varying results and bouncy levels of production. Right now, it could be said that Tillman is going through a bit of a rough spell. It's been three games in a row for him scoring in single digits and grabbing four rebounds tops.

Looking at it from a positive angle, this stretch of play might have left the door open for needy GMs to land a proper asset with a clear starting role in one of the best teams in the NBA. Yes, the usage rate is not good and that means Tillman needs to be perfect in his 25 MPG of playing time to produce enough fantasy goodies. However, this man was a per-minute machine before these three games, so there is not much reason for concern.

Tillman has, in fact, an average of 0.88 FP/min in March (league average at 0.90) but prior to this his last three games (through Sunday morning), he was an above-average asset, generating 0.98 FP/min.

From February 23 on, Tillman has scored 8+ points in 13 of 16 games and 10+ in nine of 16. He's averaged a 10-7-2-1 per-game stat line in that span while also shooting nearly 55% from the field without turnover issues.

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