Celtics Writer Thinks Jayson Tatum ‘Can Return’ Next Season

Don’t assume that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum is out for all of the 2025-26 season.

By all accounts, Tatum is recovering from his Achilles rupture with flying colors. The latest intel on Tatum’s rehab — which excited Celtics fans — came from Heavy.com’s Steve Bulpett, who relayed a message he received from a scout observing Tatum walk around at Chris Paul’s basketball camp in Las Vegas.

“He was moving really well,” the scout said, per Bulpett. 

“I’ve seen guys coming back from Achilles’ tears, and he looked way ahead. I was kind of shocked to see how well he was moving. I have no idea … what any of this means for when he can come back. … But he looks great right now. Of course, he didn’t do any running or even jogging, but he was in great shape and he had no trouble doing his part at the camp.”

Bulpett’s report electrified the imagination of many a Celtics observer, including Boston Sports Journal’s John Karalis. 

During a new episode of the “Locked On Celtics” podcast on Monday, Karalis responded to the Bulpett report by putting some juicy Tatum speculation out into the world.

“I think that he’s probably healing better than most people in this situation,” Karalis said. “My expectation is that he is going to heal faster than most guys who suffer this injury … (due to the) speed at which he had the surgery. The next morning, he was already in surgery, faster than basically anybody who has this injury. … He is in his absolute athletic prime. … Normally, guys like that are also gonna heal faster.”

Karalis then acknowledged that there is more to an Achilles injury rehab than healing the tendon itself.

“The Achilles can be 100 percent physically ready, but then the body has to be built back up,” Karalis said.

“Mentally, you have to be ready again. You have to get your cardio back. You have to trust your body again. All of that stuff.”

However, Karalis ultimately didn’t rule out Tatum returning before the end of the 2025-26 season.

“I still think he can return with NBA games left on the schedule, which would be great because then you can get to some NBA action, and that would be part of the recovery,” Karalis said.

“It’s not even about getting to the playoffs … I’d love to see him get out there and start getting some NBA minutes so he can start regaining the trust in his body, regaining the explosiveness and all of that stuff. A month or two of NBA basketball … heading into the offseason would be fantastic for him as part of his recovery and getting back to his normal self. I really don’t want the first NBA action for him to be the following October.”

Karalis’s Tatum musings make sense, but there’s also wishful thinking happening. Keep in mind that president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been crystal clear that the Celtics organization will in no way, shape or form put Tatum on an NBA court before he is beyond ready. Of course, what’s most important to Stevens and the Celtics is that Tatum’s future health remains unthreatened, even if his Achilles recovers faster than everyone expected.

Nonetheless, Tatum’s speedy recovery will only continue to generate hope amongst fans and analysts in alignment with Karalis about a return philosophy. Based on how much Tatum loves to play basketball, he’ll probably be up in that camp, too, and might end up at odds with Stevens and Boston’s medical team if and when a late-season return becomes plausible.