Weeks forward of the common season, Boston Celtics followers simply received large information relating to famous person Jayson Tatum.
Tatum has largely been anticipated to overlook all of this season, however, based on Yahoo Sports activities’ Jake Fischer, he might return in March. That might imply that he would return from an Achilles tear in lower than a yr.
That might be a surprisingly quick restoration, one that may dramatically alter the Celtics’ season outlook. If true, the Celtics’ potential hole yr may not be that in any respect.
Relying on when he returns in March, he might have at the least a month and 15 video games to ramp up forward of the playoffs. Even so, it is uncertain that he would have the ability to decide up the place he left off final season.
The Boston Celtics discover themselves in a dangerous Jayson Tatum state of affairs
It usually takes greater than a full season for a participant who tore their Achilles to return to any semblance of their earlier efficiency. Truly, most gamers who tear their Achilles endure important drop-offs in manufacturing over the rest of their careers.
Hopefully, that will not be the case for Tatum, however it could be too quickly to inform even when he does return in March. It additionally may be extra about knocking the rust off after lacking many of the season.
In the event that they had been to carry him out all of this season and have him make his return in 2026-27, he would probably be higher off health-wise however would not have performed in 16 months.
Even with Jayson Tatum, the Celtics is probably not contenders this season
There’s a clear trade-off between holding him out all of this season and rust subsequent season. Assuming that he does come again in March, the Celtics may be higher than anticipated however nonetheless far worse than final yr.
Their middle rotation is lackluster at greatest, and so they must improve that place earlier than they may even be thought of a contender. Even so, they’d nonetheless clearly be behind the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.
Finally, if Tatum is certainly in a position to return this season, that may be an enormous boon for the Celtics. Even so, it additionally comes with loads of dangers, reminiscent of bringing him again too quickly as an alternative of giving him extra time to get well, and Boston must weigh the dangers with the potential rewards.
