BOSTON — Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said Friday that the organization will not hurry Jayson Tatum back from the torn Achilles tendon that ended the forward’s postseason last spring, emphasizing that the All-Star will play only when he is completely cleared.
“There’s no pressure from us,” Stevens told reporters. “When he’s ready, he’s ready.”
Tatum, who led Boston to the 2024 NBA championship and suffered the injury during last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals against the New York Knicks, recently wondered on “The Pivot” podcast whether rejoining the club late in the year might disrupt its chemistry. Stevens dismissed that concern, saying every team in the league would improve with Tatum on the floor.
The 27-year-old has progressed through several rehab benchmarks, according to Stevens, but still has “a ways to go” before returning. Boston entered Thursday’s trade deadline at 33-18, tied for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference despite playing the entire season without its top scorer.
Roster reshaped at deadline
With the league’s luxury-tax “second apron” looming, Boston dealt veterans Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis over the summer and continued trimming payroll this week. Stevens sent guard Anfernee Simons to the Chicago Bulls for 6-foot-9 center Nikola Vucevic, then moved Josh Minott, Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher in separate transactions to slip below the tax threshold.
Vucevic, 35, made his playoff debut in 2011 when Boston eliminated Philadelphia, the team that drafted him. He has reached the postseason only three more times in 15 NBA seasons and has never advanced past the first round. “I’m excited to be around a championship team,” the Montenegrin center said Friday.
Stevens noted that swapping the 6-foot-3 Simons for Vucevic adds frontcourt depth without affecting Boston’s backcourt surplus. The executive said Tatum’s timeline played no part in the decision-making: “It’s best for Jayson to come back when he’s 110 percent healthy, fully cleared, and at peace of mind. That’s the goal.”
Source: ESPN
