Brad Stevens Addresses Jayson Tatum’s Injury Recovery
Jayson Tatum’s recent Instagram post, which showed him walking in a pool amid his Achilles rupture rehab, may have sparked optimism among Boston Celtics fans that the superstar could return from his injury late next season.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens talked with reporters at the Auerbach Center on Tuesday about Tatum’s recovery and said the team isn’t thinking about a return date for the six-time All-Star.
“We’re not even going there,” Stevens told reporters, per Celtics writer Bobby Krivitsky.
Stevens also discussed Jaylen Brown’s recent knee surgery and said that “all indications” are that both star players were “progressing at incredible rates.”
Tatum suffered a torn Achilles during Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks and through the early part of the offseason, it’s been assumed that he’d miss most, if not all of the 2025-26 season.
With no Tatum, and key contributors like Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet having already departed this summer, Boston’s roster will look very different in the fall.
Stevens also talked about free-agent big man Al Horford during Tuesday’s media session and said that it’s “unlikely” he returns to Boston.
While the Celtics lost Holiday and Porzingis in separate trades and Kornet in free agency, they’ve also brought in a number of new faces who are expected to see plenty of playing time during the 2025-26 campaign.
Among the newcomers slated crack the rotation include Anfernee Simons and Georges Niang. Simons was acquired in the trade that sent Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers, while Niang came over in the deal that saw Porzingis join the Atlanta Hawks.