Jayson Tatum may be nearing his return after his latest injury update

The Boston Celtics seems to have a strong grip on the first four seeds in the Eastern Conference as the regular season prepares to move to March 2026. And they are did all this without Jayson Tatumwhich could obviously be back very soon.

Tatum has been out since the 2025 NBA playoffs when he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the Celtics’ semifinal series against the New York Knicks on May 12. The Boston star attacked his rehab from the start, and now he appears poised to make a miraculously early return to the NBA hardwood.

According to ESPN’s Sham Charania, Jayson Tatum might actually come close return to the Boston Celtics as early as March.

“Jayson Tatum was a complete hit in the 5-on-5 matchups with the Celtics,” he said of Tatum to ESPN’s NBA Today. “Right now it’s about him continuing to put in the time, continuing to build his conditioning and that comes through a lot of practice and scrimmages. And there are two elements at play. One is building strength in both calves from the Achilles injury, and the big hurdle in all of that is getting 100 percent into the leg when he gets back on the mental side.

“A common thread I’ve gotten from people around Jayson Tatum is that he’ll be back on the floor, ‘when JT feels like JT.’ The Celtics continued to let him lead it, he’s in the driver’s seat, they’re going to take Jayson Tatum in the lead as long as he feels ready and clean, and then eventually, here’s a dozen people from doctors, Celtics officials, Jayson Tatum, Jayson Tatum himself, they’re going to gather in the room where he’s at and they want to get him to the point where he’s at and let’s get closer. until the playoffs, make a decision about whether he will be able to return to the floor.”

Jayson Tatum has missed the entire 2025-26 season so far, but the Celtics haven’t lost a single spot in the East. In fact, it’s safe to say Boston surprised almost everyone in the league with how they played despite losing Tatum to an Achilles injury and trading Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the same offseason.

At 38-19, the Celtics are currently just 4.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They also currently have a two-game lead over the third-seeded New York Knicks and fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.

In 72 appearances last season, Jayson Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from three.