Brad Stevens reveals the next steps in Jayson Tatum’s rehab process

ByNBAUSA



BOSTON — As the 2025-26 NBA season progresses Hopes that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum will return to the game are getting stronger and stronger. However, the six-time All-Star is still rehabilitating from a torn Achilles, and the Celtics’ president of basketball operations Brad Stevens he pointed out that there are several obstacles between Tatum and the basketball court.

Stevens described them as “thresholds” or different standards that the 2024 NBA champion must pass in order to be fit for the green and white again.

“There are strength thresholds he has to meet,” Stevens said after practice Wednesday afternoon. “And then after that, a few weeks of progression from a scripted to small groups, scripted against larger groups, scripted 5v5, unscripted random, all the way to them.”

Tatum recently posted a video of it going one-on-one against Celtics assistant coach Tony Dobbinsbut it is obviously very different from regular scrimmaging. And although the 27-year-old is now more than seven months removed from an untimely injury, Stevens said he still has a long way to go before he returns.

“It’s a long progression, and it’s like once you get to strength, then you go to your thresholds of game progression,” Stevens said. “And then you’re also preparing to play real minutes, whatever that looks like. He’s obviously made big strides. Right now, we’re still focused on playing at full strength.”

Before the start of the 2025-26 season, many Celtics pundits and fans were looking at the upcoming season as a doozy. The C’s were largely expected to struggle without their top guy and fall near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Through 26 games, things haven’t quite played out that way. The Celtics are 15-11 overall and in fourth place in the East. They also boast wins against every team in front of them, including the third-place Toronto Raptors (1-0 record), the second-place New York Knicks (1-1 record) and the first-place Detroit Pistons (1-2 record).

Given Boston’s promising start, it’s easy to see why Tatum’s potential return is even more coveted than before.

“Obviously, he’s itching to play,” Stevens said of Tatum.

What Tyrese Halliburton’s status says about Jayson Tatum’s return

While Stevens and the Celtics could outright cut Tatum and apply for a DPE (Disabled Player Exception) such as Indiana Pacers — who declared star point guard Tyrese Haliburton out for the year in early July due to a torn Achilles — ended up doing neither. This could mean the Celtics have hope that Tatum could return in 2026 before the current regular season ends.

But Stevens emphasized that everyone in the Celtics organization is cautious when it comes to Tatum.

“The reality is he’s not going to come back until he’s 110% healthy and feels good about it,” Stevens said. “And that’s a big part of it.”

That it’s clean to Tatumhe would be on the field as soon as humanly possible. However, despite his burning passion to play, he understands that rushing back home would not be advisable.

“He’s also … very aware of the need to meet each threshold and why those things are in place,” Stevens said. “We had a lot of great conversations about it.”

As Tatum continues to progress through his rehab, the Celtics will prepare to take on the 14-12 Miami Heat on Friday night. To see the star on the mend, just look at the bench, where Tatum will cheer on his team and teach some of the younger guys — even though he’d kill to be on the court.

“Obviously, he hates to watch,” Stevens admitted. “One of the things we love about this whole group and (especially) the guys who have been here the longest and lead them is that they love to play.”





2025-12-17 23:54:00

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