The only thing anyone knows about Jayson Tatum’s return from an Achilles injury is that the Celtics aren’t putting a timeline on it. So while the C’s continue their season, there’s an underlying subplot on when their All-NBA wing could be back on the court.
Jaylen Brown, in a recent stream with DDG, talked about how he believes Tatum could return soon. Tatum still has several checkpoints ahead of him during the rehab process, but his progress has been well-documented at this point.
“JT just always recovers,” Brown said on the stream. “He always recovers. ... He’ll probably break the record for fastest recovery in Achilles history or some (expletive). I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Celtics president Brad Stevens recently detailed what’s still ahead of Tatum when it comes to his return to the court. He still has some strength checkmarks to hit while the on-court work continues to ramp up. Considering there are still several months left in the season, Tatum still has time for his comeback.
In the meantime, Brown has led a revamped Celtics to a solid start. They’re currently 15-11 and fourth in the East. Their offense has flourished, though the defense has been a step behind. Still, the Celtics have impressed early on this season, and that’s despite missing their best player in Tatum.
Brown is also living life at the top of the opposing scouting report every night. He’s having a great start to the season, averaging 29.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists to lead the Celtics. He’s also scored at least 30 points in eight of the Celtics’ last nine games. But Tatum’s return, of course, would be a major boost for the C’s.
“Obviously, he’s itching to play,” Stevens said of Tatum. “Obviously, he hates watching. But he’s also very cognizant of the need to meet every threshold and why there are those things that are put in place. We’ve had a lot of great talks about it. One of the things that we love about this whole group, and I think the guys that have been here the longest lead the charge, is they love the play.”