The Boston Celtics tried really hard to make this season a reset year. But they can't stop winning. After beating the Knicks in impressive fashion on Tuesday, the Celtics are now 12-9 and sit sixth in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game behind the Magic for No. 5.
Meanwhile, a Jayson Tatum return this season is sounding more likely with every update about his rehab process. No one [wants him to rush back](https://hardwoodhoudini.com/celtics-desperately-need-jayson-tatum-cant-afford-bring-back), but every C's fan would obviously welcome him into the mix with the openest of arms if he really is ready to go in the near future.
The confluence of an upstart Celtics squad overachieving and Jayson Tatum's return being ahead of schedule opens the door to a question that was unfathomable before the season started: Should the Celtics be _buyers_ at the trade deadline this year?
In a typical year, it might behoove the Celtics to practice patience and focus on building a contending team next year. This is far from a typical year, though.
Celtics might shockingly be in position to make a run if Jayson Tatum returns
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You've probably heard this before... But the Eastern Conference is wide open this year. _Wide_ open. No one looks invincible, and this Celtics team plus Jayson Tatum has as good a shot as anyone to make a run to the NBA Finals.
So, what about this Celtics team plus Jayson Tatum _and_ Nikola Vucevic? Jerami Grant? CJ McCollum? Suddenly, that's not a team with a fighting chance to win a playoff series, that's a team with an _expectation_ to win _at least_ one playoff series.
Every year doesn't _have_ to be a competitive year — this year especially, everyone knew what the Celtics plans were. They didn't trade Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis for no reason, after all.
But if there's a chance at an Eastern Conference championship, why not pursue it? Adding a win-now player won't ruin whatever future plans the Celtics have; they'll start next season with Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard no matter what, and will have some cap flexibility in the offseason, especially if the player they add is on an expiring deal.
If you told me four months ago that I would be arguing for the Celtics to make win-now moves at the deadline, I would have slowly backed away from you. But if these Celtics are as competitive as they appear to be, and Jayson Tatum really could come back this season... Then "all in" stops sounding like a crazy concept.