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- Boston president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the All-Star is progressing well following surgery last month
When Jayson Tatum ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the Celtics鈥� conference semifinals loss the the New York Knicks, everything about Boston鈥檚 immediate future changed.
But what won鈥檛 change is the Celtics鈥� front office鈥檚 prudence in making sure he has the space and time to make a full recovery.
Boston president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said the All-Star is progressing well following surgery last month. But asked about whether the team had put a potential timeline on Tatum鈥檚 return, Stevens was definitive that there would be no rushing the star鈥檚 rehabilitation.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 and we won鈥檛,鈥� Stevens said Wednesday night following the first round of the NBA draft. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 put a projected timeline on him for a long, long time. ... It鈥檚 baby steps right now. He鈥檚 actually progressed great, but I don鈥檛 know what that means in regard to projected timelines. But that will be in consultation with him ... and everybody else to make sure when he hits the court he is fully ready, and fully healthy. And that will be the priority.鈥�
Tatum is expected to miss most if not all of next season. It has already had implications for next season, with the team opting to trade Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday 鈥� both key contributors from the 2024 title team 鈥� in an effort to get the team鈥檚 salary under the luxury tax second penalty apron.
But Stevens said All-Star Jaylen Brown has already been back to the Celtics鈥� training facility since he had minimally invasive surgery to clean up his right knee. Brown is doing some light ball handling and work around the rim, Stevens said.
鈥淲e said be ready for training camp and I think he鈥檒l probably be going full well ahead of that,鈥� Stevens said.
While Stevens said league rules wouldn鈥檛 allow him to address the pending trades of Porzingis or Holiday, he said anything they do this offseason is with an eye toward regaining flexibility after multiple seasons with a high payroll.
鈥淎s far as whatever moves that those are a apart of, they鈥檙e all separate and hard and things that you鈥檙e going to have to do your best to make sure you put yourself in the right positions,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淲e knew this was coming. This isn鈥檛 a huge surprise. ... The biggest thing for us is making sure that we balance that, maximizing what we can with regard to what we bring back so we can continue to build and grow.鈥�