Celtics' subtle decision speaks volumes about a Jayson Tatum return this season

Brad Stevens surprised reporters at the Auerbach Center on Wednesday. The Boston Celtics' president of basketball operations spoke for nearly 13 minutes. He fielded questions ranging from what they might do between now and the trade deadline to whether Jayson Tatum might return this season.

Regarding the latter, he reminded everyone about a significant decision the Celtics made -- one that's easy to lose sight of.

"One of the things that everybody can see, we didn't apply for a DPE [disabled-player exception] this year, which was a conscious decision for a lot of reasons," said Stevens.

It would be understandable if Boston had a preference and would rather Tatum wait until next season to return. However, by not filing for a disabled-player exception, the organization kept the door open for the six-time All-Star to reclaim his spot in the lineup during the current campaign.

What Jayson Tatum must do before returning

Just because the five-time All-NBA selection could return this season doesn't mean he will. As Stevens reiterated, the Celtics are not putting a timeline on when Tatum might play his next game. The focus has always been the same.

"The reality is he's not going to be back until he's 110 percent healthy, and he feels good about it, and that's a big part of it, right?" stated Stevens. "Obviously, he's itching to play. Obviously, he hates watching, but he's also -- I don't want to speak for him, but [he's] very cognizant of the need to meet every threshold and why there are those things that are put in place. We've had a lot of great talks about it."

In an insightful conversation with Dr. Kevin R. Stone, an orthopedic surgeon at The Stone Clinic and a leading expert in Achilles tendon repair, he highlighted stretching out the fear factor as a reason not delay Tatum's return if he gets medically cleared to play this season.

Dr. Stone also shed light on what it will take for the 27-year-old star from St. Louis to get the green light from those on the medical side. On Wednesday, Stevens addressed the boxes Tatum needs to check to get the go-ahead from a basketball perspective.

"I mean, there's strength thresholds he has to meet. And then after that, several weeks of progressions, right?" Said Stevens. "From the standpoints of scripted against small groups, scripted against bigger groups, scripted in five-on-five, unscripted, random, all the way up through those.

"But it's a long progression, and it's almost like once you hit the strength, then you do your thresholds of a progression of play, and then you're also reconditioning to play real minutes. You know, whatever that looks like. He's obviously made great strides right now. We're still focused on the full strength game."