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Boston Celtics cornerstone Jayson Tatum has progressed through the recovery from his Achilles tear far more quickly than most expected and has begun to flirt with a return during the 2026 season<\/a>. Of course, if he\u2019s fully healthy, I\u2019m sure the Celtics would love to have him back in the lineup, but with how they\u2019ve been playing recently, is it worth it to rush him back and risk reinjuring himself?<\/p>\n The Celtics have been one of the best teams in the NBA since the start of the new year, holding a 16-7 record, good for third best in the league, only behind the Cavaliers and Pistons. They\u2019ve been doing this in a plethora of ways, but the main catalyst has been Jaylen Brown thriving as a number-one option.<\/p>\n Brown has always been looked at as the Robin to Tatum\u2019s Batman, but he\u2019s done well playing the part of a No. 1 option on a contender. He\u2019s averaging nearly 30 a night and has led the Celtics to the two seed in the East. However, more than just Brown playing like an MVP<\/a>, head coach Joe Mazzula has found a way to squeeze every ounce of talent out of the rest of the roster.<\/p>\n Derrick White has taken a bigger role in Boston\u2019s offense, generating a career high in scoring, but in turn has also seen his efficiency hit career lows as well. He\u2019s still been very valuable to Boston and has kept their offense playing hyper-efficiently, especially when paired with Payton Pritchard. Both guys have had to increase their usage, and Boston\u2019s offense has barely skipped a beat.<\/p>\n Boston went from a 120.6 offensive rating last season, good for second in the league, to a 120.8 this year, also good for second in the league. They\u2019ve continued to find overlooked players that can provide instant offense at any point.<\/p>\n Sam Hauser is the perfect example of this. He\u2019s an absolute sharpshooter who can light you up for 20 points on 6 threes any given night if he gets hot. Boston also got aggressive at the trade deadline, adding two-time All-Star Nikola Vucevic to provide more consistent offensive play at center. Neemias Quieta had done a very solid job replacing Al Horford, but he doesn\u2019t provide the spacing the Celtics are looking for in their smaller lineups.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve also gotten starts out of Luka Garza, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Ron Harper Jr., and Amari Williams. Basically, if you\u2019ve gotten minutes for the Celtics, you\u2019ve probably gotten the chance to start this year.<\/p>\n