Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell is optimistic that Jayson Tatum will reclaim his place as one of the NBA’s best players whenever he fully recovers from Achilles surgery, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Appearing on Patrick Beverley‘s podcast, Cassell said he plans to help Tatum learn how to view the game from a coach’s perspective while he’s rehabbing the injury.
“It’s good, man,” Cassell said. “When he comes back, he can be even better. He can observe the game of basketball and work on everything he needs to work on. I’m looking forward to the journey with him. Top-five first-team All-(NBA) this year. When he comes back, he’ll be first-team All-(NBA) again. He’s that good.”
Tatum was one of four players to be unanimously selected for first-team All-NBA honors this week, earning the designation for the fourth straight season. No timetable has been set for him to resume playing, but Terada states that the Celtics are confident about his prognosis because he had surgery the morning after tearing his Achilles in Game 4 of their second-round series and he was fortunate to be in New York, which offered greater access to world-class surgeons.
Tatum’s injury derailed any hopes that Boston had of rallying to win the series and it may cause the team to take a step back from contending next season. However, Cassell is confident in the long-term future.
“When you got a great group of guys who understood the situation we were in,” he said, “It’s like, ‘Guys, we’re down 3-1, OK. We’re going to get another lead, so let’s just take advantage of the lead.’ Because we had leads every game. Basketball gods are just not happy sometimes. We’ll grow from this. As a staff, we’ll grow from this as a team. We’re the Boston Celtics, baby.”
There’s more from Boston:
- The press conference held Monday by president of basketball operations Brad Stevens showed that he has a plan to remake the roster and trim salary this summer, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Stevens indicated that he’s willing to use the team’s draft picks at No. 28 and 32 to help get rid of at least the roughly $20MM that will be necessary to get the Celtics below the second apron. Washburn doesn’t expect Stevens to part with Jaylen Brown or Derrick White, but he states that Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday will likely be made available, while Sam Hauser, Jordan Walsh and JD Davison may also be deemed expendable.
- In a mailbag column, Brian Robb of MassLive questions how easy it will be to find teams willing to take on Porzingis and Holiday. Robb points out that Holiday is already 35 and will making $37.2MM in 2027/28, while Porzingis’ recent health issues will likely limit his market.
- Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe continues his offseason series rating the team’s various units, this time focusing on the starting lineup. He notes that injuries to Tatum and Brown, along with Porzingis’ illness and Holiday’s signs of aging leave the group in much worse shape than it appeared to be when the season began.
Hopefully Cassell is right about the full recovery. I wonder if Porzingis will eventually get past his health problem.
He was averaging 19ppg and shooting 41 percent from three. Tons of teams would want that if he stayed on the court. But he doesn’t.
I hope Tatum comes back full strength but I just don’t know. Kobe and Cousins were never the same again. Wilkins was still great for a couple more seasons but he had to change his game. Durant still puts up numbers when he plays, he misses a lot of game though. Thompson can still hit threes but his lost his lateral movement that made him a good perimeter defender. I think it’s going to be tougher for Tatum, he’s not a knockdown shooter like Durant or Thompson. He also depends on his athleticism for defense.
I mean Kobe was 35 years old and in his 17th season. He also scored over 20 points a game post achilles injury, right in line with his career averages.
Tatum is younger than every guy you listed and assuming he approaches rehab with the proper intensity, he should be just fine.
Porzingis has had health issues for his entire career. Someone will take him.
He is getting into his 30s now, not the same anymore
Yeah how’d that work out for Jimmy butler who also cant stay on the court?
I mean I was very against any Warriors Jimmy Butler trade and that terrible contract so yeah awful decision too. Way worse than getting Porzingis.
Jimmy couldn’t stay on the court with the Heat in 2024/ part of 2025 when he wasn’t suspended… They trashed Riley, but he knew better than give Jimmy $110 million 2yr extension… Warriors boxed themselves in, OKC, Minnesota, Denver, and even Lakers with needed big man, and other teams are clearly better than Warriors… Jimmy Who? Some sucker team will grab Porzingis….
Weak and soft owners ruined the league for owners who are not afraid to spend to build up a good roster.