The Boston Celtics are fresh off a disappointing (and disastrous) playoff collapse at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers, who overcame a 3-1 series deficit and sent the green team packing on their home court.
It's fair to wonder where exactly things went wrong, especially because there isn't just one clear answer. From Game 5 on, they were disjointed, they never looked to be on the same page, and they just didn't play Celtics basketball, all while the 76ers seemed to finally figure it all out.
Mazzulla's rotation choices were questionable (Baylor Scheierman and Luka Garza, at the very least, deserved more minutes than they got), Derrick White's struggles for the entire series were too much to overcome, even if he was almost the hero of Game 7 (26 points, three blocks), and they let a probably 75% Joel Embiid have his way, particularly in the mid-range.
But among all of Boston's problems, it's important to remember one thing: the team would have been way worse off without Jayson Tatum, and they did not make a mistake bringing him back.
The Celtics were right to bring Jayson Tatum back this season
"The Celtics are rolling without Jayson Tatum. Why risk bringing him back too soon?"
"Boston should just bring Jayson Tatum back for the 2026-27 season. It doesn't make sense to mess with the chemistry and risk anything."
"Jaylen Brown has been an MVP candidate all year. Just let him run the show and bring Jayson Tatum back next season."
These are some of the sentiments shared by some Celtics fans and many who are on the outside looking in, and they are partially valid. Boston was on another level with Jaylen Brown leading the way (they were 43-23 in the regular season without Tatum and were the No. 2 seed in the East, despite many expecting them to be a Play-In team at best), and they had a ton of momentum before the Duke alum's return.
But when you have an opportunity to bring your best player back on the court, who can contribute in every single area of the game, you do it. And if not for this season, at least for next season, when the Celtics should be right back to competing for a title.
Tatum can run drills, play some scrimmages, practice, etc., but nothing is going to match actually playing live NBA games. So to be able to give him some time this season to get back into it was absolutely the right call.
Plus, having the 28-year-old back with the team was only going to raise their ceiling, not lower it, especially given how good he looked upon his return.
In hindsight, it's fair to wonder if Boston would've been better off keeping Tatum on the sidelines and letting Brown and them do their thing without him since it clearly worked for them all season. But the Celtics had an opportunity to bring their star player back to a team that was already in a good spot to make some noise in the East. And if they had a chance to play this scenario out 100 times, I bet they would do the exact same thing every single time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google