What the Boston Celtics Can Expect From Jayson Tatum

This is the final installment in a series of pieces examining what the Boston Celtics can expect from each of their players this season. 

Here is the full series: The Rookies, Mike Conley, Paul George, Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Ron Harper Jr., Payton Pritchard, and The Centers, Sam Hauser, and Derrick White.

Jayson Tatum is walking into the most unique season of his professional life. 

His tag team partner, Jaylen Brown, is gone after a decade in Boston. Tatum will walk into training camp as the lone star on a team in flux after the Brown trade, and he’s doing it on a surgically repaired Achilles tendon that is getting its first true run as a fully functioning part of Tatum’s body.

His return at the end of last season was about him, his mentality, and proving something to himself. Now, it’s about leading a basketball team again.

“I was able to prove to myself that I could play this game at a very, very high level,” Tatum said in his final interview of last season. “Checking that box off mentally [was important] because that was a question in my head and there were doubts of will I be able to be the same player, will I be able to play at a high level after this injury? Now I've proven it and showed that, even at 80-85% of myself. Now, getting an extended period of time to deload and take some time off and come back next season 100%, 110% ready. Get my body right and get my right calf bigger compared to my left one. I'm excited about that."

Tatum coming back at the end of last season was huge for him, even if it disrupted what the Celtics did on the floor. We can argue whether or not it was fair to the team to throw a less-than-100%, high-usage player, no matter how familiar he was with his teammates, into a mix that had been chugging along all season, but no one wanted this season to start with questions about Tatum’s Achilles. Tatum needed to figure out who he was and what he needed to do before heading into the summer, and he did that. The Celtics needed that clarity heading into the summer as well so they could figure out how to move forward. 

Now they have it. So where do they go from here? What can we expect from Jayson Tatum?

Tatum’s summer was actually his first taste of an offseason in nearly two years. He played (technically) in the 2024 Olympics and then the entire 2024-25 season, got hurt at the end of it, and immediately tackled his rehab, culminating in his return in 2026. Boston’s early elimination actually gave Tatum a chance to finally get off his feet for a while. So first and foremost, I think we should expect a refreshed and reenergized Tatum when he steps on to the court. 

I also think Tatum has demonstrated a greater appreciation for just being on the floor, understanding the fragility of the human body despite his ability to do superhuman things. That mentality is important for getting through a long season full of ups and downs. 

More than anything, he’s gone through the worst injury that can happen to a basketball player and he’s come out the other side, essentially capable of being himself. He has a new perspective on the game and on life. He has clarity. 

“I'm very happy that I came back to be a part of his team, to get back to doing what I love,” he said. “To prove to myself that I can get back to being the guy who I was, and hopefully better. And just to kind of defy what this injury kind of means, not necessarily from the standpoint of, like, ‘I'm great, look at what I was able to accomplish,’ but to give other guys hope.”

The Celtics need this new Tatum to show some new wrinkles to his game in order to be their best. As much as he’s worked on his ability to see the floor, Tatum needs to find a new level of play-making to maximize this roster. He’s being given two centers in Mitchell Robinson and Neemias Queta who can set good picks and finish around the rim. He has shooters on the perimeter, and guys who can take pressure off of him and create for themselves. Tatum is still going to be the number one driver of Boston’s offense, but he has to be an even bigger engine for everyone else’s scoring. 

Tatum also needs to fix his three-point approach. Whether he believes it or not, his three-point diet is not working for him. Tatum has been a below average three-point shooter in three of his last four full seasons, and it’s dragging his career percentage down below 37%. Tatum too often tries to pull himself out of slumps by taking the first halfway decent pull-up three, instead of letting the game come to him. Even if he passes up on two of those shots per game in favor of probing a defense and initiating the offense, it will have a positive ripple effect on the offense. And considering how often the ball finds the guy who made the first pass in a set, Tatum can find an equal or better shot in a lot of those sets. 

It will be interesting to see how Tatum is defended this season, and how much other teams fear his teammates. Tatum is obviously a superstar who is fully capable of adjusting his game as needed to fit his team’s needs. It still needs to be proven, but chances are Tatum will be 100% healthy to start the season and ready to handle his normal workload, which puts him in a position to make whatever adjustments he needs to make without worrying about anything else. There's a good chance he’ll find himself on the All-NBA first team again, and maybe in the MVP conversation. 

But it will take some growth to get there. He’s going to have to figure things out without a player of Brown’s caliber by his side, which is something he’s always had. It’s a new challenge for him, but Tatum has already shown he can tackle the biggest challenge of his life and get where he needs to be. There's no reason he can’t figure things out from here.