The Boston Celtics’ most significant move at the trade deadline was landing Nikola Vucevic in a deal with the Chicago Bulls for Anfernee Simons, which should set the stage for All-Star Jayson Tatum’s return this season. Acquiring a proven veteran center to resolve the glaring weaknesses in the team’s frontcourt sends a strong message to its fans, the rest of the league, and their injured All-Star forward.
While Tatum remains undecided about whether rejoining his team this season is the right decision amidst his recovery from a ruptured Achilles, Celtics president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, is all in on this year’s team. Stevens’ moves at the deadline are welcoming a Tatum return with open arms, as he enters the final stages of recovery within the next couple of months.
Amidst the overachieving Celtics’ emergence to second place in the Eastern Conference, the front office felt compelled to add the finishing touches to what could be a title-contending roster, with Tatum soon waiting in the wings. While the Celtics were expected to go through a “gap year” after shedding long-term contracts that included key members of its 2024 championship team, the Celtics have outshone all but one team in the Eastern Conference thus far.
The Celtics (34-18) leapfrogged the New York Knicks for second place, while the Detroit Pistons, who’ve sat atop the Eastern Conference for most of the season, have a 4.5-game lead. No one saw this coming after watching the Celtics trade Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, and then letting Al Horford walk in free agency.
Without half of the championship team’s top-six and Tatum sidelined, All-Star Jaylen Brown, alongside Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, has guided the Celtics to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. Boston is also one of the NBA’s better defenses this year, which has helped it secure improbable wins throughout the season.
But is it enough to convince Tatum to return?
Shorthanded Celtics stun Rockets on the road
The Celtics’ 114-93 blowout victory against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday may have topped the list for the most improbable win of the regular season, considering they beat a Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun-led Rockets team without Brown. And did it with ease, while holding a team with the fifth-best offensive rating (118.3) to under an astonishing 95 points on the road.
From the top of the roster to the bottom, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has instilled the utmost confidence in his players, which has translated to G League players such as Ron Harper Jr. and Amari Williams, benefiting the team’s winning. Harper Jr. connected on three triples en route to 11 points in his first NBA career start in Wednesday’s win against the Rockets.
Rookie center Amari Williams, who spent most of the season playing for the Maine Celtics in the G League, earned an opportunity that eventually blossomed into a two-year deal, adding depth to the center position. With Williams signed, it solidifies Mazzulla’s frontcourt, featuring Neemias Queta, one of the better defensive centers in the NBA this season, and Nikola Vucevic, a two-time All-Star who’s a 20+ point scoring threat.
Williams, in as the Celtics’ third-string center, is an ideal role for this year’s team. It’s also a testament to the rookie’s work ethic and defensive instincts, which led Mazzulla to play him over veterans Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher, who was traded to the Utah Jazz. Williams agreed to a two-year deal with the Celtics, worth $2.7 million.
While Jayson Tatum’s body will need ample time to adapt to the speed of a Celtics team that, for the most part, has played together since training camp in October, he won’t be the only one learning. Vucevic is new to Joe Mazzulla’s system, while Tatum can lead the way, as he’s more in tune with what the Celtics have been doing since Mazzulla took over as head coach in 2022.
Will Jayson Tatum make his Celtics season debut?
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens isn’t rushing Jayson Tatum to do anything. Still, his moves at the deadline certainly set the mood for a team looking for extra muscle ahead of an anticipated deep postseason run. Adding Tatum is ideal, but this year’s success isn’t predicated on it, which eases the process.
Still, for Stevens, there’s no pressure on Tatum to return relatively soon, or at all, he said, per ESPN.
“Obviously, any team with Jayson Tatum’s going to be better,” Stevens said. “If he needs it, I’ll tell him every day. Because every team — all 30 of us — would be way, way better with him on the team.”
“Those are just things that go through everybody’s minds. In all of our conversations, he’s confident he can make the team better, too… He’s hit a lot of the thresholds, he’s doing more and more, and will continue to do more and more. There’s no pressure from us. But there’s also not going to be any of us saying, ‘Well, why don’t you just take another week?’ It’s going to be: When he’s ready, he’s ready.”
Tatum’s anticipated return is entirely on his terms, and while the Celtics continue to rise in the Eastern Conference standings, it’s an encouraging sign amid small modifications, such as adding a new offensive weapon to the frontcourt. If the Celtics were trending in the opposite direction, it would be understandable for Tatum not to want to return amidst such pressure, but this is different.
Still, Jayson Tatum seems undecided, according to Celtics radio color commentator Cedric Maxwell.
“That’s the big question mark. Now, that’s the million-dollar question,” Maxwell replied. “I don’t know where he’s at, and I talked to him for a minute. Talking to him, he seems undecided, like he’s unsure at the moment.”
Perhaps the Celtics’ trade for Nikola Vucevic sways him toward suiting back up. Plus, Tatum’s All-Star running mate, Jaylen Brown, is having the best season of his career. Brown is also encouraging a Tatum return, signaling a collective embrace of the two All-Stars leading the Celtics on a potential deep postseason run no one saw coming.
Celtics comeback win amid Nikola Vucevic debut
Nikola Vucevic got his first taste of what it’s like to play for the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in a 98-96 win against the Heat on Friday. In a game in which the Celtics erased a 22-point deficit, Vucevic felt the crowd’s electricity, which reminded him of the atmosphere during the 2012 playoffs, when he was a rookie.
“My rookie year, when I was in Philly, we played against Boston,” Vucevic said, per Boston Herald reporter Zack Cox. “We lost in Game 7 here; they still had Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, KG, and all of them. [I’ve played] a lot of games here, and I always liked Boston. I always felt people here were very proud of being from Boston. You could just feel it. Big sports town, obviously.”
Vucevic finished with 11 points on 4-for-8 shooting, 12 rebounds, four assists, and two steals in Celtics debut.
