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[Boston Celtics]

Celtics won’t rule out Jayson Tatum playing next season — but he won’t be rushing back

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Brad Stevens said the Celtics aren’t discussing a timeline for Tatum’s return — but didn’t entirely rule him out for the 2025-26 season.

The Indiana Pacers have formally ruled out Tyrese Haliburton playing next season as he recovers from an Achilles rupture he suffered last month. But Celtics general manager Brad Stevens declined to make a similar declaration regarding Jayson Tatum, who ruptured his Achilles tendon six weeks before Haliburton did.

“We’re not even talking about timeline for return,” Stevens said matter-of-factly on Tuesday. “We’re not even going there.”

From the jump, Stevens has made clear that the organization would prioritize Tatum’s long-term health and not put any pressure on him with an expected timeline. Stevens said that the six-time All-Star has been in the building daily, focused on his rehab.

The public got a glimpse of that last week, when Tatum posted a video of himself walking in a pool alongside his trainer and close friend, Nick Sang.

Jayson Tatum posted a video of himself walking in a pool today on Instagram as he continues his Achilles rupture rehab pic.twitter.com/Q7hQxW4tV9

— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) July 6, 2025​

“Jayson is working every single day,” Stevens said. “He has literally been here every day except for a few day break. But when he takes a few days break, Nick goes with him, so he’s still working every single day.”

Jaylen Brown has also regularly been at the Auerbach Center ​

Jaylen Brown, who had knee surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus last month, has also been focused on his rehab daily. Brown is expected to be ready to go before training camp begins in October.

“We have no reason to believe Jaylen won’t be all clear and ready to go fairly shortly,” Stevens said.

Stevens noted it’s unusual for the Celtics' stars to be around the facility at this point in the offseason, and shared that Brown was in for a shooting workout early Tuesday morning and that Tatum seems to be progressing well.

“Jayson was in moving pretty fast on that boot today, so all indications are they’re both progressing at incredible rates, which is great,” Stevens said. “But we’re not gonna put any pressure on Jayson to get back anytime soon.”

Meanwhile, rookie Hugo Gonzalez said he feels “blessed” to get the chance to be around both veterans as he acclimates to the organization.

Very cool to see that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — who are both rehabbing at the Auerbach Center — both met the rookies today

(Photos via Celtics Instagram) pic.twitter.com/PTGGXXAOHV

— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) July 1, 2025​

“They are really, really good players, one of the best in the league,” Gonzalez said. “Having them near here, learning about them, and everything, is just an opportunity that I’m really blessed to have.”

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/7/...chilles-injury-recovery-timeline-brad-stevens

 

[Boston Celtics]

It is time for Jordan Walsh to dominate Summer League

Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

In his third trip to the Strip, Walsh needs to show he has graduated from the summer showcase.

It typically isn’t a great sign that a player is playing in Summer League entering their 3rd NBA season. If they are, they should look like the best player on the court.

Things I look for during Summer League:

Do the rookies look like they can hang athletically? Especially when going against experienced players.
What skills do returning players show off? Are they asked to play a very different role and handling it ok?
Are second- and…

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 5, 2025

Very simple rule for me.

If Baylor and Walsh don’t dominate, it’s not going to happen for them as nba players. https://t.co/7RzitPZTF9

— Matt (@Mahcus_Smaht) July 8, 2025

In last season’s Celtics Summer League opener, Jaden Springer had 23 points and 6 assists while Neemias Queta had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Springer would not play in Summer League again while Queta had 22 points and 8 rebounds in the Summer C’s next game before being shut down. They dominated, showing that they were above playing in Vegas.

Walsh, on the other hand, played in all five Summer League games the Celtics played in last year. He averaged 9.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 29% from the field and 13% from three.

He didn't look like just a guy — he was plain bad. That simply cannot be the case this year. He needs to stand out. On Friday against the Grizzlies, we need to see Walsh stand out and think he could be a guy who can help the Celtics.

Walsh: “I’m a vet now, which is nice.” pic.twitter.com/oIn3EVouAl

— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) July 8, 2025

Walsh’s athleticism has shown flashes at times and his range on defense is something to watch as well. However, he needs to be able to score the ball this time around. He needs to be able to get past a defender and finish around the cup. He needs to be able to knock down catch and shoot threes.

His offensive rebounding is something a lot of people liked coming out of school and he did that pretty well last summer with 1.8 offensive rebounds per game. However, the Celtics need more out of Walsh in the half court other than just crashing the offensive glass.

The Celtics just signed Josh Minott to a 2-year contract, a player who has a very similar archetype to Walsh — long rangy defenders who are athletic, pretty good offensive rebounders but have struggled to make threes at the NBA level. Minott played at Summer League last year, averaging 15.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game on 44% from the field and 23% from three.

Nothing special but better than Walsh looked.

Walsh also talked about putting too much pressure on himself last summer and how it led to his mix bag of results.

“When I went into it last year, I was kind of in the mentality of trying to be like Jayson Tatum, be Jaylen Brown,” Walsh said. “And it’s like, that’s not the same team, that’s not who I am, I’m not those guys. Now I’m going with the mentality of being me, being the best player that I can be, to affect winning in every [part] of the game.”

Jordan Walsh is coming into Summer League with a new mentality:

“When I went into it last year, I was kind of in the mentality of trying to be like Jayson Tatum, be Jaylen Brown. And it’s like, that’s not the same team, that’s not who I am, I’m not those guys. Now I’m going… pic.twitter.com/QkWczPKHFn

— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) July 8, 2025

Jordan Walsh might not be putting pressure on himself, but the Celtics are. He needs to perform at a high level this time around in Vegas because unlike in his first two seasons, there is a chance that Walsh can carve out a consistent role for himself this upcoming season.

That needs to start with really high-level play over the next week plus at Summer League. He needs to show the Celtics brass that he has graduated by playing at a really high level in the first one or two games.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/7/...boston-celtics-arkansas-springer-queta-minott

 

[Boston Celtics]

Who will the Celtics face in next season’s NBA Cup?

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Boston is competing with four Eastern Conference rivals on the road to the NBA Cup in Vegas.

The groups for the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup were announced today and the Celtics were placed in Group East B alongside the Brooklyn Nets, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, and Philadelphia 76ers.

The #EmiratesNBACup 2025 Group Draw results!

Starting October 31, all 30 teams will compete for the NBA Cup with 8 teams advancing out of groups into the knockout rounds, with the semifinals and championship held in Las Vegas, December 13 and 16! pic.twitter.com/VJur4Hv0lL

— NBA (@NBA) July 9, 2025​

Boston has not found much success when it comes to competing for the NBA Cup in the past couple of years. In the inaugural 2023 In-Season Tournament, the Celtics went 3-1 in the group stages, winning Group C with their only loss coming against the Magic and their wins against the Nets, Raptors, and Bulls.

Who could forget the infamous final game against the Bulls where the Celtics dominated them by a score of 124-97 due to the fact they needed to win by 23+ points to win the point differential battle. Joe Mazzulla intentionally fouled Andre Drummond even though they already had a big lead in the game and it caused a bit of friction between at the time Bulls coach Billy Donovan.

After advancing to the knockout stage as the 3rd seed, the Celtics would face off against the 2nd seed Indiana Pacers where they would fall 122-112 in Indiana. This was first introduction to the Pacers on a national stage and they would ride the momentum all the way to the Finals of the Tournament but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the championship game.

The newly named Emirates NBA Cup in 2024 would not change the Celtics luck in this tournament after not qualifying for the Knockout Round after losing to the eventual Group C winners, Atlanta Hawks and missing out on the Wild Card. Boston beat the Bulls, Cavs, and Wizards but didn’t win the group due to a tie breaker with the Hawks.

That meant they needed the Bucks to beat the Pistons by 6+ points which they did AND the Magic to beat the Knicks OR the Knicks beat the Magic by 37+ points to sneak into the Wild Card spot. Sadly New York won 121-106 which meant the Celtics were officially knocked out of the NBA Cup. The Milwaukee Bucks would end up winning the NBA Cup as they beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Championship Game.

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

The NBA Cup starts on October 31st and the Celtics will host Brooklyn and Detroit with road games at Orlando and Philadelphia.

Source: https://www.celticsblog.com/2025/7/...roit-pistons-orlando-magic-philadelphia-76ers