According to Boston Celtics PR, Jayson Tatum will participate in a practice with the Maine Celtics at the Auerbach Center. Hugo Gonzalez and Amari Williams will also join the practice.
Following the practice, Tatum will immediately be reassigned to Boston, where he will continue his rehab after suffering a ruptured Achilles this past May.
Here is the full press release, as relayed by Celtics PR:
BOSTON – Celtics forward Jayson Tatum will be assigned to participate in portions of the Maine Celtics practice at the Auerbach Center this afternoon. Following this practice, Tatum will be immediately recalled to the Boston Celtics, where he will continue his rehab process.
Celtics guard Hugo Gonzalez and Celtics center Amari Williams will also be assigned to participate in this practice. No additional information regarding Tatum’s recovery is available at this time; further updates will be provided as appropriate.
BSJ Analysis: This falls in line with the Shams Charania report that Tatum has started up 5-on-5 practices, which is a good sign regarding his overall recovery.
That said, as was the case when Chris Haynes reported that Tatum was reevaluating whether he wants to return this season, this update should be taken with a grain of salt.
Nothing that has occurred this year from a rumor standpoint has altered my viewpoint on whether or not Tatum will return this season. As soon as reports came out following his injury regarding his will and desire to make it back, that has been my personal belief.
When that was made clear, I believed that Tatum would return this year. When he supposedly expressed doubts, I still believed he would return this year. And now that he’ll be practicing with Maine, that remains the case.
With one game left until the All-Star break, a post-break return is the only legitimate option (barring a miraculous random return against Chicago on Wednesday).
And from that point forward, it’s all about figuring out when would be best for Tatum. But those types of predictions are impossible to make.
Side note: The press release was written in the future tense but states “this afternoon.” It’s an odd discrepancy, but it likely means Tatum has already gone through the practice or plans to tomorrow (Tuesday).
The latter makes more sense, since the Boston Celtics are scheduled to practice on Tuesday.
