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Celtics’ Brad Stevens reveals next steps in Jayson Tatum’s rehab process
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- Celtics’ Brad Stevens reveals next steps in Jayson Tatum’s rehab process
Celtics' Brad Stevens reveals next steps in Jayson Tatum's rehab process appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
BOSTON — As the 2025-26 NBA season progresses, the hope that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum returns to play grows stronger and stronger. However, the six-time All-Star is still rehabbing from a ruptured Achilles after all, and Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens pointed out that multiple roadblocks are standing between Tatum and the basketball court.
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Stevens described them as "thresholds," or various benchmarks that the 2024 NBA champion must pass in order to suit up for the green and white again.
"There's strength thresholds he has to meet," Stevens said following a Wednesday afternoon practice. "And then after that, several weeks of progressions from the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in 5-on-5, unscripted random, all the way up through those."
Tatum recently posted a video of him playing one-on-one against Celtics assistant coach Tony Dobbins , but that's obviously very different from regular scrimmaging. And although the 27-year-old is now over seven months removed from his untimely injury, Stevens said he still has a long way to go before he returns .
"It's a long progression, and it's almost like once you hit the strength, then you do your thresholds of a progression of play," Stevens stated. "And then you're also re-conditioning to play real minutes, whatever that looks like. He's obviously made great strides. Right now, we're still focused on the full-strength game."
Prior to the start of the 2025-26 season, many pundits and Celtics fans viewed the upcoming season as a wash. The C's were largely expected to struggle without their go-to guy and fall near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
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Through 26 games, things haven't exactly played out that way. The Celtics are 15-11 overall and in fourth place in the East. They also boast wins against every team ahead of them, including the third-place Toronto Raptors (1-0 record), second-place New York Knicks (1-1 record), and the first-place Detroit Pistons (1-2 record).
Given Boston's promising start, it's easy to see why Tatum's potential comeback is even more longed for than before.
"Obviously, he's itching to play," Stevens said of Tatum.
What Tyrese Haliburton 's status says about Jayson Tatum's return
While Stevens and the Celtics could have definitively ruled out Tatum and applied for a DPE (disabled player exception) like the Indiana Pacers — who declared star point guard Tyrese Haliburton out for the year in early July due to a torn Achilles — they ultimately did neither. This might imply that the Celtics have some hope that Tatum could return in 2026 before the current regular season wraps up.
But Stevens emphasized that everyone in the Celtics organization is being cautious when it comes to Tatum.
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"The reality is he's not going to be back until he's 110% healthy and he feels good about it," Stevens said. "And that's a big part of it."
If it were purely up to Tatum , he'd be on the court as soon as humanly possible. Yet, despite his burning passion to play, he understands rushing his homecoming would be ill-advised.
"He's also…very cognizant of the need to meet every threshold and why there are those things in place," Stevens said. "We've had a lot of great talks about it."
As Tatum continues to progress through his rehab, the Celtics will prepare for the 14-12 Miami Heat on Friday night. For a glimpse of the recovering star, just look to the bench, where Tatum will be rooting his team on and instructing some of the younger guys — even though he'd kill to be on the court.
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"Obviously, he hates watching," Stevens admitted. "One of the things we love about this whole group and, [especially] the guys who've been here the longest and are leading the charge, is they love to play."
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