What a difference 297 days makes.
It’s easy to forget now, both with Jayson Tatum’s impending return sending a jolt of energy through New England, and the way the Boston Celtics have so greatly outkicked outsider expectations throughout his nine-month absence. But it didn’t feel like things could get much worse for Celtics fans back on May 12.
Tatum was in the midst of one of his finest postseason performances before the Achilles rupture that shrouded his future in uncertainty. The Celtics were headed for a 3-1 series deficit against the Knicks, and the reality quickly sunk in that their hopes of repeating as NBA champions had been effectively dashed.
Worse yet, a very uncertain summer awaited knowing the second apron was about to tear apart the beloved core of the 2024 title team.
So it almost feels like a miracle that, 297 days later, Tatum is about to be back on the floor for a new-look Celtics team with legitimate title potential. Even as Tatum navigated the final stages of his rehab and put himself in position to rejoin the team, the reality didn’t hit us until the Celtics shipped out the injury report heard ‘round the world on Thursday that upgraded Tatum to questionable for Friday’s game against the Mavericks.
How utterly improbable that these Celtics have already vaulted from the depths of May despair to a ceiling-less future in such a short period of time.
We don’t suspect Brad Stevens or Joe Mazzulla ever sat around feeling sorry for themselves back in May. Stevens dove headfirst into a roster overhaul that culminated with the Celtics shedding $350+ million in roster costs that delivered Boston below the luxury tax at February’s trade deadline.
Still, the Celtics thrived. Mazzulla famously phoned Derrick White on his birthday during the offseason and declared, “Everybody thinks we’re going to suck. I love it,” then hung up. Mazzulla has pushed every right button and accelerated the development of the team’s youngest players while entrenching the Celtics as the No. 2 seed in the East.
All the questions that surrounded this team — even beyond Tatum’s health status — have been answered this season.
Jaylen Brown became the 1A focal point and thrust himself into MVP conversation, carrying the Celtics at times with his two-way prowess. Neemias Queta deserves consideration as the NBA’s Most Improved Player while elevating from fourth-string center to starting big man with one of the league’s best net ratings this season.
Boston’s entire gaggle of young wings has thrived in various spots with Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and rookie Hugo Gonzalez all proving capable of being rotation presences on Boston’s next title-contending team.
Which, as Tatum returns to the floor, might just be this squad.
The Celtics are now the favorites to win an Eastern Conference that already felt wide open without him. Detroit, Cleveland, and New York all present unique challenges, but Boston is the least flawed and most playoff-experienced group of the bunch, especially if Tatum gets back closer to the All-NBA presence he was before his injury.
Even if it’s not this year, the Celtics are set up incredibly well for the future. Nearly the entire core will return next season, and staying below the tax for one more year might allow the team to splurge big in the summer of 2027, all while still being a contender before that point.
In the infancy of Tatum’s return, expectations should be tempered. There will be rust. And even with his familiarity with much of this core, Tatum must develop chemistry with a new-look roster. Those who fret about the reintegration process are not without merit, based on the somewhat unprecedented nature of adding a previously top-five player to a title-chasing team in March.
But they do seem to ignore the fact that Brown and Tatum have always figured out how to bring the best out of each other. And they have stacked up plenty of playoff success because of it. Why would this foray be any different if Tatum can get back to his old ways?
Still, nine months ago, pundits were suggesting a “gap year.” Everyone was wondering if Tatum might not return to the TD Garden floor until October 2026. The idea that Boston would be where they are at this very moment seemed pure fantasy.
Instead, it’s reality.
