Jayson Tatum has ticked another box on his Achilles comeback checklist.
In a team statement, the Celtics announced Tatum would be “assigned to participate in portions of the Maine Celtics practice at the Auerbach Center” on Monday afternoon. Maine is Boston’s G League team.
After the practice, Tatum “will be immediately recalled to the Boston Celtics, where he will continue his rehab process,” the team said.
Rookies Hugo Gonzalez and Amari Williams also were assigned to participate in the workout with Tatum, who has made steady progress in the nearly nine months since he underwent surgery last May to repair his ruptured Achilles tendon.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Sunday that Tatum had begun “controlled 5-on-5 scrimmaging with coaches.” Practicing with and against other players, even in a limited capacity, is the next step in his rehab process.
Monday’s announcement was the Celtics’ first official statement on Tatum’s status since their confirmation last spring that he had undergone successful surgery. The team remained mum on when the All-NBA wing might return to game action, saying: “No additional information regarding Tatum’s recovery is available at this time; further updates will be provided as appropriate.”
In a news conference Sunday, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Tatum “still has a ways to go” in his recovery. The team, Stevens said, is putting “no pressure” on the 27-year-old to return before he is “110% healthy.”
But this latest update could mean he is getting close.
Early last season, when Kristaps Porzingis was working his way back from leg surgery, the Celtics had their G League club travel to Boston to practice with the rehabbing big man (and sent backup Xavier Tillman to work out with him). Porzingis made his season debut eight days later.
Boston has one game remaining before the NBA All-Star break (Wednesday against Chicago at TD Garden), then seven days off before it begins a four-game road trip next Thursday in Golden State. Tatum said months ago that his first game back will be a Celtics home game; the first of those after the break are Friday, Feb. 27 against Brooklyn and Sunday, March 1 against Philadelphia.
The Celtics have gone 34-18 without Tatum this season, tied with the New York Knicks for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. As of Monday, they trailed only East-leading Detroit and West-leading Oklahoma City in point differential and net rating.
Tatum has acknowledged the potential “challenges” of rejoining a successful team midseason, and one report last week indicated he was “reevaluating” whether to return or sit out until the fall.
“If or when I do come back this season, they would have played 50-some-odd games without me,” he said on “The Pivot” podcast. “So they have an identity this year, or things that they’ve felt that have clicked for them, and it’s been successful — second (seed) in the East up to this point. So there is a thought in my head of, like, how does that work? How does that look with me integrating myself off an injury and 50, 60 games into a season?
“(There) obviously could be some challenges, and it is a thought, like, ‘Damn, do I come back, or should I wait?’ It’s honestly something that recently, in the last two weeks or so, I just kind of contemplate every single day.”
Stevens said that kind of trepidation is “totally normal” for a player coming off an injury as significant as Tatum’s.
“I think we’ve talked to every single player that’s ever had a long rehab about that,” Stevens said. “I think those are just things that go through everybody’s minds. … The best (time) for Jayson Tatum to come back is when he’s 110% healthy, he’s fully cleared by everybody that matters in that decision, and he’s got great peace of mind and he’s ready to do it. That’s it. That’s the objective, and that’s what we’re going to stick with.”
If Tatum needs reassurance, Stevens said, “I’ll tell him every day, because every team — all 30 of us — would be way, way, way better with him on your team.”
