Things Are Getting Even Better For The Celtics As Jayson Tatum Continues To Hint At A Potential Return This Season

Rich Storry. Getty Images.

Listen, it's been full pants off in the Greenie Household when it comes to the 2025-26 Boston Celtics for about a month now. With each passing game against a supposed Eastern Conference leader ending in yet another Celtics win, you can really get the blood flowing if you sit down and really dig into what we're seeing. I've been doing it all day today, and honestly, everything I come across is better than the last

The Celts Kool Aid has never been colder and is just as delicious as I remembered. Who knows how long this lasts, so I say go nuts. Drink that shit until you can't possibly drink any more. Let your brain go to dangerous places, you've earned it. 

And if all this winning and metrics weren't enough, it's time to take things up a level

Giphy Images.

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The most impressive part of this entire run over the last month is that it's been happening without the Celts' best player. Well, what if those days are numbered? We've seen the short Tatum workout clips, and those are great. Those get the blood flowing to the parts of our bodies we don't talk about. But whenever a new one drops, you have to do your best to avoid ahead of yourself. These things take time.

Well......what about now?

Now "soon" can mean different things to different people. However you choose to interpret the definition of the word soon

"in or after a short time"

is up to you. But you know what you don't call "soon"? October 2026. That is not soon. In fact, that's the exact opposite of soon. 

Listen, I want to remain levelheaded when it comes to Tatum's return. I want him to take his time and not rush the process and all that. But, if he's ready to go, he's ready to go, right? And if this team is actually going to be competing for a top seed in the conference, well then adding a healthy Jayson Tatum to that group is a pretty big deal, right?

So what is "soon"? Well, what about February 8th on National TV at home against the Knicks? You know, the team the Celts were playing when that all started. That's basically 4 months from right now. Specifically, it'd be 272 days or 8 months and 3 weeks from his injury. Admittedly, that feels a little quick for this type of injury. Maybe March 4th at home against the Hornets? That'd basically be a birthday present and would be 9 months and 2 weeks from his injury. That one feels a little more believable as a potential return date, especially when you factor in how unique his surgery situation was and what we're being told that could mean in terms of his rehab/recovery.

My point is, I don't think you're getting the workout clips we've gotten and IG posts saying "soon" if it was more likely than not that Tatum sits the entire season. Especially now that the Celts might actually be one of the best teams in the East. 

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Is this my wishful thinking because I am drunk off my ass on Celts Kool Aid? Yes.

Does that mean I'm wrong to be trying to speak this into existence? No.

I do still believe that the team's standing will tell us more about a potential Tatum return than his own personal health, because he's not getting cleared unless he's passed every test and his every benchmark in order to be medically cleared. If the team remains the wagon we're currently watching, bringing him back does make some sense. If the team has an injury or goes through a brutal slide and is then outside of the Play In by the time Tatum is cleared? Then you re-evaluate things.

But what I absolutely will take in the meantime are more breadcrumbs like this from Tatum. Especially while the team is winning. 

What is going to be fascinating is to see what happens at the deadline. If the team continues to win and Tatum's return is about a month away at that point, what does Brad do? Does that change the type of move they'd make or the position they may try and add? Does that shift the plan of maybe offloading money to instead perhaps taking on future money if the deal was right? Sadly, we can't answer that question on December 8th. There's a ton of basketball to be played, and we're still a ways away from Tatum's potential return. But admit it, it is fun to think about. 

We live in a world where this guy could be back in our lives in just a few short months. I love it here