Boston Celtics megastar Jayson Tatum practiced with the G League Maine Celtics on Monday afternoon, according to the Celtics' official X page.
This news came on the heels of a Shams Charania report that Tatum has begun participating in controlled, 5-on-5 scrimmages with the Celtics.
The writing is on the wall: Tatum's return to NBA basketball is imminent. This is a massive development for a Cleveland Cavaliers team looking to win the Eastern Conference.
Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum sounds like he's close to returning
Thursday will mark the nine-month point since Tatum tore his Achilles tendon in the playoffs against the New York Knicks. The six-time All-Star had surgery within hours of the injury and has, by all accounts, traversed a stellar rehab.
Of course, there have been mental barriers along the way. Most recently, Tatum publicly expressed doubts about returning, mostly due to his concerns about interrupting team chemistry.
Celtics players like Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard pushed back against those concerns, saying they'd love to have Tatum back and that Boston will immediately become better once he's on the floor.
The scary part for the rest of the Eastern Conference is that Brown and Pritchard are probably right.
The Cavaliers were arguably the winners of the trade deadline in the East. They added a future Hall of Famer in James Harden and made other excellent additions in Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis.
However, the most impactful addition that an East team will make this season won't be Harden; it'll be Tatum, if he does indeed return to action during the regular season.
The most unexpected narrative in all of the Tatum buzz is how good the 2025-26 Celtics have been without him. Boston has been neck and neck with the New York Knicks for the No. 2 seed in the East for weeks. The Celts had the fourth-best record in the entire NBA entering Tuesday.
The new-look Cavs are feeling confident as they look across the East landscape right now. New York and the Detroit Pistons are worthy concerns, but Cleveland feels it just added a wild card in Harden that will push it past those clubs.
Tatum's return represents the biggest threat to the Cavs, because this Celtics group has the championship pedigree that Cleveland lacks.
If Tatum returns to form before the playoffs, Boston might morph into a locomotive, armed with the confidence that comes with having gone the distance just two seasons ago. That's a serious problem for Cleveland.