{"id":623066,"date":"2026-02-25T02:50:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/623066\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T02:50:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T02:50:58","slug":"boston-celtics-nba-analyst-hints-at-potential-jayson-tatum-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/623066\/","title":{"rendered":"Boston Celtics: NBA Analyst Hints At Potential Jayson Tatum Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest stories for the Boston Celtics<\/a> this season has been how well this team has played without Jayson Tatum.<\/a> Boston is somehow the number two seed in the Eastern Conference with a 37-19 record. Many different players have stepped up in his absence this season.<\/p>\n

Jaylen Brown<\/a>, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard have been playing well for Boston. Not many expected this team to be a Top 4 seed without Tatum this season. The last time he stepped on the court was during the second-round of the 2025 NBA<\/a> playoffs against the New York Knicks<\/a>. Tatum has been recovering from his torn Achilles injury since then. Is it possible that he could return this season?<\/p>\n

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NBA Analyst Doesn’t Rule Out Jayson Tatum Return For the Boston Celtics<\/p>\n

As the second half of the NBA season continues to March, cbssports.com writer Jasmyn Wimbish <\/a>wonders if a Tatum return in the second half of the NBA is possible. Wimbish said<\/a>, “When Tatum tore his Achilles in May 2025, it appeared the\u00a0Celtics<\/a>\u00a0would take a gap year with their superstar sidelined. It seemed highly possible that Tatum would be out the entirety of the 2025-26 season, and that Boston would refocus its efforts around the 2026-27 campaign.<\/p>\n

But here we are nine months from Tatum’s Achilles surgery, and there are hints that he could make a return in the coming weeks. The All-Star forward practiced with Boston’s G League squad before the All-Star break, and took part in 5-on-5 scrimmages with Celtics teammates and coaches. Everything is lining up toward a potential return ahead of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

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Boston owns a 35-19 record, and sits second in the East. There’s a world in which the Celtics could make a deep run in the postseason\u00a0without\u00a0Tatum. Having Tatum healthy should only strengthen Boston’s postseason hopes, and shake things up considerably in the East.<\/p>\n

The race for the East couldn’t be more wide open at the All-Star break. The Cavs are considered the favorites with +350 odds on\u00a0FanDuel<\/a>. The Celtics,\u00a0Pistons<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Knicks<\/a>\u00a0all have +370 odds.”<\/p>\n

There is still time life in the season for him to return, but they do not want to rush things. It is good that he was working out with the Maine Celtics earlier in the month of February. If he does return from the Achillies injury this season, they can no doubt take down the Detroit Pistons<\/a> in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n

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During the 2024-25 season with Boston, he averaged 26.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 6.0 APG. It would feel like a surprise if Tatum decided to return this season for the Celtics this season. They are better off waiting until the 2026-27 to see him return to game action.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Feb 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the biggest stories for the Boston Celtics this season has been how well this team has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,75,136,1243,1409,78,77,6,11,191,405,297],"class_list":{"0":"post-623066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-cavs","11":"tag-derrick-white","12":"tag-eastern-conference","13":"tag-jaylen-brown","14":"tag-jayson-tatum","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-nba-playoffs","17":"tag-new-york-knicks","18":"tag-payton-pritchard","19":"tag-pistons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116129003578569007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}