On its face, logic makes sense: Even if Jayson Tatum is ahead of schedule in his rehab from a ruptured Achilles, why rush him back to play this season?

The Boston Celtics already lost four members of their championship core this offseason and will be without Tatum for the foreseeable future. They almost certainly won’t compete for a title in 2026. So, why not just let Tatum take the full season off, hand the keys to Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard in 2025-26, and focus on being 100 percent healthy for 2026-27?

That plan sounds good in theory — but it may discount Tatum’s maniacal commitment to getting back on the court.

On a new episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast, John Karalis of The Boston Sports Journal told host Chris Forsberg he could see Tatum returning shortly after the NBA All-Star break.

“I think that he could be back by March — like, early March,” Karalis told Forsberg. “You’ve got a guy in his complete physical prime getting surgery almost immediately from one of the best (surgeons) — from the guy. I can see him post-All-Star break starting to ramp up.”

As for the fear of rushing Tatum back too quickly? Karalis believes the 27-year-old will be so advanced in his rehab that he could be 100 percent healthy with zero restrictions by March.

“Every time I bring this up, people say, ‘Don’t rush him, don’t rush him.’ This is not rushing,” Karalis said.

“When I say, ‘early March,’ I mean early March where every trainer, every doctor, the Pope — everybody comes in and is like, ‘Nope, this is good, man. We’re covering all of our bases.’ They all come in and be like, ‘Nope, he’s ready to go.'”

It isn’t hard to imagine Tatum being cleared to play about 10 months after his initial injury on May 12. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla relayed to 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand that Tatum has been at the team’s facility almost every day this offseason to work on his rehab, while C’s forward Jordan Walsh recently noted his All-Star teammate has been “moving around way better.”

And if Tatum gets the green light before the end of the 2025-26 season, Karalis believes there’s benefit in him getting game reps, regardless of whether Boston is in the playoff hunt.

“Get him back, get him some minutes, shake off the rust, get his mind right,” Karalis said. “Because that’s gonna be a huge, huge hurdle. Get him past some of those mental hurdles, get some good data with some of these guys, and now you can start next season ahead of where you thought you would be.”

As Karalis pointed out, any philosophical arguments about whether Tatum should or shouldn’t play may not matter if Tatum is in a good place physically before the season ends.

“You think if he’s ready and fully cleared that the team’s gonna be able to say, ‘No, you’re not playing’? Are you kidding me?” Karalis said. “He’ll go sign with freaking Fenerbahçe (a Turkish team that competes in the EuroLeague) or something. He’ll do something.

“If he is ready and cleared, he will play. And the team kind of will just have to say, ‘Yeah, you’re playing.'”

Also in this episode:

How are we going to remember the Celtics’ summer of 2025?

How quickly will this team get to the other side of this transition period?

Which newcomer are you most excited for?

Which young player is most likely to make the leap and become a cornerstone on this roster?

What’s your opening night starting lineup?