After suffering an Achilles tendon tear during the second round of the playoffs last spring, six-time All-Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is returning to the court, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.
The 28-year-old is targeting Friday’s matchup with the lowly Dallas Mavericks — Boston’s vanquished NBA Finals opponents in 2024 — to make his 2025-26 season debut, per Charania. If that happens, he would be rejoining Boston after a mere 10-month layoff.
That’s a virtually unprecedented turnaround window for an Achilles tear, which can be one of the most permanently devastating injuries in the game.
On the other side of the bracket, Mavericks No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year frontrunner Cooper Flagg is now considered questionable for Dallas’ Thursday road game against the Orlando Magic, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line. A left midfoot sprain has kept Flagg sidelined for the last eight contests.
So in theory, we could see a premium clash of two of the best forwards in the league Friday, as Tatum makes his comeback and Flagg nears full strength once again.
Troy Taormina-Imagn ImagesTatum Returning to Revamped Celtics — And Once Again Aiming for a Title
Boston will look pretty different than it did the last time a healthy Jayson Tatum laced them up.
Gone are former championship starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, plus key reserves Al Horford and Luke Kornet.
Jaylen Brown, formerly Tatum’s sidekick, has assumed command of the franchise as a virtual All-NBA lock and a fringe MVP contender. He’s one of the best two-way forwards in the league, and his rapidly improving handle could mean some long-term hierarchical changes even when Tatum is back to full strength. Derrick White looks certain to make his third All-NBA Team. Neemias Queta, the fourth stringer-turned-starting center, has become a rim-rattling double-double machine. Guard Payton Pritchard has stepped up.
Anfernee Simons had been packing plenty of punch as a key change-of-pace backcourt scoring threat, but Boston flipped him for 35-year-old former Bulls center Nikola Vucevic at the deadline. Vucevic at times has looked solid, but has been fairly inconsistent and a major sieve defensively. Welcome to the Vucevic experience, Boston fans.
Sharpshooter Sam Hauser has regained his form after a shaky start, while defense-first wings Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez have helped replicate Tatum’s lock-down perimeter stopping abilities in his absence.
Stunning, the 41-21 Celtics occupy the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference — even without their best player available until now. Depending on how Tatum looks, this could prove to be a major game-changer.
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