Why zero urgency might be the smartest approach Boston could take
Yes, the Celtics (34-19) have been among the best teams in the NBA this season.
And as presently constituted, they could make a run to yet another NBA Finals - which would be their third appearance in five years.
And yet as we sit here today on February 9, there’s really only one major question mark surrounding this team, especially after Brad Stevens made magic at the deadline with the addition of Nikola Vucevic to truly shore up their frontcourt:
When is Jayson Tatum returning to the court?
After talking to Ryan Clark’s podcast on January 28, it sounded like Tatum was targeting a return somewhere between Game 50 and Game 60.
One day later, Chris Haynes - who had previously reported that Tatum told him he would be back this season - was throwing water on Tatum’s podcast comments, saying the All-NBA forward’s return this season was now “up in the air.”
Fast forward to today, 10 days after Haynes’ late night report, and the Celtics had this to say on Tatum’s current rehab status in an official statement:
“Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will be assigned to participate in portions of the Maine Celtics practice at the Auerbach Center this afternoon. Following this practice, Tatum will be immediately recalled to the Boston Celtics, where he will continue his rehab process.
“Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez and Celtics center Amari Williams will also be assigned to participate in this practice. No additional information regarding Tatum's recovery is available at this time; further updates will be provided as appropriate.”
If you wanted to, you could have yourself go crazy trying to connect all these dots and throughlines.
He’s clearly moving in the right direction, and the team continues winning lots of basketball games in his absence.
So when ESPN’s Brian Windhorst was asked about what the level urgency was surrounding Tatum’s potential return, his insight was telling, yet makes sense within the context of both this season and the larger picture:
“I have a very strong answer for this - 0.0. This is one of the reasons why I think the Celtics have operated so well. They have never looked at Jayson Tatum coming back and being the savior. Tatum has felt that support from the organization. He does not feel a pressure to come back, but he has operated all season like he's going to be a part of this team.
“Here's one of the ways he's done it. When you're going through a long term rehab, sometimes you just stay away and stay [from] the team facility. Jayson has traveled with the team the entire season. When the Celtics have been working out, he's been next to them. He's wanted to be a part of the team for the entire season.
“And this is an organization that, down the line, is operating [at a] very high level right now. They would not be in second place if they weren't doing a great job with their medical, doing a great job with their coaching, a great job with their player development, great job with drafting guys. They have cut their payroll by $300 million since Tatum got that injury, and yet here they are playing in second place, playing in a very important game on Super Bowl Sunday.”
May 12, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) is helped off the court by after an injury in the second half during game four of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Tatum would leave the game with an injury after this play. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)The Celtics ended up losing that game on Sunday to the Knicks to snap a five-game win streak, but there’s a chance you had no idea that was even going on as you got both physically and mentally prepared for Super Bowl LX.
If you’re reading this, it probably means that game didn’t go the way you wanted.
But hopefully a semi positive update on Tatum from the team on Monday, followed by Windhorst’s comments from above, have you feeling really good about the current state of your basketball team.
Either Tatum returns and he helps boost an already great team, or he rehabs and rests while building towards returning for the 2026-27 season.
I call that a win-win.
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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.