Weeks forward of the common season, Boston Celtics followers simply bought large information concerning celebrity Jayson Tatum.
Tatum has largely been anticipated to overlook all of this season, however, in line with Yahoo Sports activities’ Jake Fischer, he might return in March. That may imply that he would return from an Achilles tear in lower than a yr.
That may be a surprisingly quick restoration, one that might 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 a minimum of a month and 15 video games to ramp up forward of the playoffs. Even so, it is uncertain that he would be capable to decide up the place he left off final season.
The Boston Celtics discover themselves in a dangerous Jayson Tatum scenario
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 vital drop-offs in manufacturing over the rest of their careers.
Hopefully, that will not be the case for Tatum, however it might be too quickly to inform even when he does return in March. It additionally is perhaps extra about knocking the rust off after lacking a lot 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 possible be higher off health-wise however would not have performed in 16 months.
Even with Jayson Tatum, the Celtics will not be 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 is perhaps higher than anticipated however nonetheless far worse than final yr.
Their heart rotation is lackluster at finest, they usually must improve that place earlier than they might even be thought-about 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 might 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 attainable rewards.