There’s a reason the phrase “reading the tea leaves” keeps coming up when we talk about Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum.

Because at this point, that’s exactly what this whole process has felt like.

The latest breadcrumb arrived Saturday morning, when the Celtics posted photos of Tatum getting work in at practice with a simple caption: “Another day of work [arm flexing emoji].”

On the surface, it’s nothing more than a social media post. Teams share practice photos all the time.

But in the context of everything we’ve seen over the last few weeks - the ramp-up to more intense workouts, the appearances in controlled scrimmages, teammates consistently saying he looks like himself - it’s hard not to view it as another subtle signal that things are trending in the right direction.

No, it’s not an official update.

No, there’s still no return date circled on the calendar.

But posts like this don’t exactly quiet the speculation.

If anything, they pour a little more gasoline on it.

And that speculation has been building steadily.

You had Tatum getting on the floor with the Maine Celtics.

You had teammates like Ron Harper Jr. saying he “looked like Jayson Tatum” during a radio interview All-Star Weekend, giving you yet another example of a steady drumbeat of optimism from inside the locker room without anyone actually declaring anything definitive.

Layer on top of that the broader narrative that’s been unfolding publicly - from his reflective social media posts about the rehab grind to the upcoming docuseries chronicling the recovery - and you can see why every new visual update carries a little extra weight.

Through it all, the messaging from the organization has remained consistent:

Patience above everything.

Brad Stevens has made it clear the goal is for Tatum to return only when he’s fully ready, both physically and mentally.

No shortcuts. No timelines forced for the sake of optics.

When he’s back, it’ll be because everyone involved believes it’s the right moment.

Tatum himself has echoed that sentiment, repeatedly downplaying any attempt to connect individual milestones to a specific return window.

But that hasn’t stopped the momentum from feeling real.

Because when you step back and look at the full picture - the increased activity level, the positive reviews from teammates, the growing visibility of his work behind the scenes, and now the Celtics themselves casually sharing practice images - it paints a picture of a player who is getting closer.

Not officially. Not definitively.

But closer.

And for a Celtics team that’s managed to remain among the league’s top contenders while holding down the fort without its franchise cornerstone, the idea of Tatum eventually walking back onto the parquet feels less like a distant possibility and more like an approaching reality.

So yes, maybe it really is just another day of work.

But it also feels like another reminder that the day everyone’s waiting for might not be all that far away.

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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.